


raise your hand if you've ever felt personally victimized by hailey osborn

by mike_mchands



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - High School, Ben Parker Lives, F/F, F/M, Female Peter Parker, Gen, Idiots in Love, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Mean Girls Quotes, Mean Girls References, Rule 63, Trans Female Character, Underage Drinking, Underage Drug Use, Underage Sex, Underage Smoking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:40:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28236327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mike_mchands/pseuds/mike_mchands
Summary: In which Peter Parker and the Sinister Six are teenage girls attending Midtown High.Or: "Edie, stop trying to make fetch happen. It's not going to happen."[Will be integrated into the wider MCU via the events of Avengers (2012).]
Relationships: Michelle Jones/Peter Parker
Kudos: 17





	1. In which Penny meets Ned Leeds

**Author's Note:**

> Credit where it's due: I was inspired by a bunch of photos on Tumblr, but haven't been able to find them again. I haven't really worked out where this fits into the Marvel multiverse, but MJ, Ned and Flash definitely look like their MCU counterparts. Tags are not set in stone, and I'll probably be adding new relationships and characters as this goes on.

“Penny, wake up.”

“… no, May, go ‘way, I wanna sleep…”

“Penelope Teresa Parker, it is your first day of school. If I need to dump a bucket of water on your head to get you out of bed, _I will_.”

Penny opened her eyes, blinked, and smiled sheepishly. “I’m awake, May.” Her aunt was standing beside her bed, hands planted on her hips forbiddingly, and the expression on her face was more than enough to propel Penny to her feet. “Sorry. I… um… slept late.”

“You don’t want to start off your first day of school by being late, do you?”

“No, May.”

“Then?” May inclined her head at the door. “Go and eat your scrambled eggs. They’re getting cold.” She sighed. “I’ll pack your bag for you.”

Penny gasped, clasped her hands over her chest dramatically, and kissed her aunt on the cheek. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“Yes, yes, yes. I’m only going to do this once, young lady.”

“Still a lifesaver.”

Penny clambered down the stairs, still draped in her scratchy, loose pyjamas, and Ben looked up as she appeared on the landing. “Good morning, sleeping beauty.”

“Morning, Ben.” Penny pulled her chair back, planted herself in front of her breakfast, and started to eat. It was barely seven in the morning, and their neighbourhood was just waking up. “Aren’t you and May supposed to be at work?”

“We’re starting tomorrow.”

Penny made a confused noise.

Ben chuckled. “We used to live here, you know. You didn’t grow up here, of course, but the two of us did. It’s been a while, so we thought that we’d take a walk around town, see the sights… see what’s changed.”

“You need to clean your room,” May harrumphed, setting Penny’s bag down on the floor beside her leg, and Penny beamed up at her as she bustled back to her seat. “I don’t know how you can stand to live in the midst of such chaos, Penny. It’s been two days since we started unpacking.”

“I’ll get to it, May.”

“Yes, yes, yes. Don’t talk with your mouth full.” May slid her spectacles onto the bridge of her nose, squinting at her laptop. “Now, we drove you around town yesterday, and we pointed out which school you’d be going to. Do you think you can find your own way there without our help?” She held up a warning finger. “Don’t talk, mind. Either nod or shake your head.”

Penny nodded.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, May, I’m sure.” Penny grinned. “Enjoy yourselves, okay?”

Ben gagged. “Close your mouth, Pen. You’ll make me lose my appetite.”

\-----

Olivia woke up.

Her spectacles had fallen off while she slept, and as she fumbled for them, blindly, groping about in the darkness, the smell of bacon sizzling reached her nose. _Oh, wow_ , she thought, wistfully, and bit her lip as her stomach growled. _Smells good._

Her spectacles were nowhere to be found, though.

“Damn,” she cursed, inching across the bare concrete floors of her workshop, and let out a brief shout of triumph as her feet found the first step. Slowly, she made her way up the stairs, pushed open the door, and blinked rapidly as her eyes struggled to adjust to the rays of sunlight streaming in through the windows. A fuzzy silhouette was reclining on the couch, and as she got used to the light, it jumped to its feet and hurried over.

“Did you lose your spectacles again?”

“Yep.”

“I’ll get ‘em. Take off your boots.”

As Max disappeared downstairs, Olivia kicked off her boots and nudged them to the side. Her socks - which stank to high heaven - followed. Carefully, she felt about for a pair of slippers and relaxed as her feet slid into them.

“Got ‘em,” Max crowed, sliding her spectacles into her hand, and Olivia grunted in gratitude.

“Who’s making breakfast?”

“Who else?”

Up here, aboveground, the smell of bacon had only intensified, and Olivia followed her nose to the kitchen, where Liz was standing, staring down critically at the meaty strips as they shrivelled and blackened. Edie was already perched at the grey wood/metal island, wiping her mouth primly with a small square of white cloth, and Olivia sat down beside her. The cloth was stained with crimson, and as Edie fiddled with the fabric, Olivia reached across the table for the coffee machine and made herself a latte.

The television crackled. _Oh_ , Olivia thought. _Hailey’s up_.

“ _\- deaths. Chief of Department Petralski has discouraged speculation on the matter, but Mayor Fisk is due to speak on the incident shortly. Angela Yin has more -_ ”

The television fell silent, and Hailey began to make her way down the stairs. “Morning, girls!”

Olivia grumbled something, as did the others, and Hailey sighed. “Would it kill you to be a little more peppy?” she complained.

“Yeah,” Max cracked, her grin audible. “Man, I only got, like, five hours of sleep.”

“Yeah, well, as long as all of you show up this weekend.” Hailey wrinkled her nose and glanced around. “Speaking of, where’s Sandy? She said she was gonna be doing the invites -”

“I’m here,” Sandy chirped, popping up from between Olivia and Edie, and Edie blanched, the veins at her neck blackening as her body tensed. “Sorry, H. Just woke up.”

Hailey snapped her fingers impatiently. “Hand them over.”

Sandy nodded, sunny as always, and started to hand them out. As Olivia received hers, she turned it over in her hand, examining it. The invites had started out as stiff white cards, but Sandy had decorated them with markers, highlighters, stickers and gel pens, with the recipient’s name and the party’s venue printed in the centre. A small number had been affixed to the upper left hand corner, and as Olivia squinted at it, she saw that the number on her card was a three.

“Like it?”

“It’s very nice,” Olivia managed, taking another sip of her latte, and cleared her throat. “This is… for us?”

“Yeah.” Sandy leaned over, uncaring of the fact that she had neglected to throw on a blouse, and brandished her own invite at them. “See? I’m six, Hailey’s one, Edie’s two, you’re three, Liz is four, and Max is five!” She gestured over her shoulder. “There’s, like, fifty or sixty other invites up there. They’re all on the desk. I was working on them while Hailey was sleeping.” She planted one manicured nail on her invite and scraped off a small layer of glitter, giggling. “I put a little bit of myself into each of them.”

 _No_ , Olivia realized. _Not glitter. Sand._

“Aw, Sandy,” Hailey squealed, wrapping one long arm around the other girl’s shoulders. “You shouldn’t have!”

“It’s the least I could do!”

“Yeah, well, the least you could do right now is throw on something decent,” Liz grated, pulling at Sandy’s bra strap, and grinned at her yelp. “We’re all dressed for school, Sandy. What’s your excuse?”

Sandy pouted, but went to clothe herself.

As she munched on her toast and chewed through her bacon strips, Olivia went through her schedule in her head. She waited until there was a lull in conversation before pulling out her phone and clearing her throat. “We’re expecting a new student today,” she remarked. “Penelope Parker. Just moved over from LA.” As Hailey leaned forwards, she placed her phone at the centre of the island and adjusted her posture. “Picture looks a little out-of-date, but… eh… should be her.”

Edie leaned over. “She could be prettier,” she observed. “Without the acne, and the braces, and the spectacles, and the baby fat…”

“Might’ve gotten a glow-up in the interim,” Hailey allowed. “Any peculiarities?”

“She’s smart,” Olivia reported. “That’s about it. We might snap her up if she’s smart enough.”

Hailey hummed.

They were fast eaters, all of them, and once all the dishes had been cleaned up, they split up to get ready for school.

\-----

The fat kid was staring at her.

He was tanned, but looked a little Asian, and wore a fedora that seemed a little too small for his head. Penny could see him out of the corner of her eye, gaze fixed on her, and it was starting to get a little creepy. Raising her head from her phone, she allowed her gaze to stray, wandering from face to face, and made eye contact with him.

The effect was instantaneous.

As her gaze sharpened, the fat kid blinked, made a sound that could have been a whimper, and looked down hurriedly.

 _There we go_ , Penny thought, satisfied, and returned to her phone.

A few minutes later, though, the fat kid picked up where he’d left off. Worse, he’d stood up, ceding his seat to a middle-aged businessman. Penny watched, concerned. Was he making his way towards her?

It seemed so.

As he came to a stop in front of her, she smiled politely. Her danger-sense didn’t seem to think that she was in any peril, but this whole situation was starting to get a little weird. “Do you, er, take the - are you - which station are you getting off at?”

Penny told him.

“Oh, sweet. Are you going to Midtown High? I heard we were getting a new student.” The fat kid’s eyes veered to the side. “I mean,” he tried, attempting to sound cool and unbothered, “on the grapevine. I heard about it on the grapevine.”

He was kinda dorky, Penny decided, and allowed herself to nod. “Yeah.”

“Cool, cool.”

An awkward silence followed, and Penny made a snap decision.

“Hi,” she said. “I’m Penny Parker.”

The fat kid looked up, then, a spark of what looked like surprise flaring in his eyes, and smiled nervously. “Ned Leeds.”

He may have looked like a weirdo, Penny decided, but he wasn’t _that_ bad. They had a ton of mutual interests, and he was very helpful. When Penny got stuck at the turnstiles, he helped her to tap through, and he guided her to the exit that would bring them up to within a hundred yards of Midtown High. They chatted all the way from the train platform to the exit, but Ned seemed to be growing a little subdued as they approached the school, and Penny realized - all of a sudden - that he hadn’t told her anything at all about how Midtown High was like.

She was about to pop the question when he turned to her.

“You know,” Ned began, his face darkening, “you might not want to. Um. Walk beside me.” He pulled away, keeping his fedora clamped tightly to his head, and turned away slightly. “It won’t be good. For you.”

“Whyever not?” Penny asked, alarmed.

Ned opened his mouth, but Penny’s danger-sense blared _ALARM ALARM ALARM_ , and she pulled him back just in time for a pink convertible to blaze by. There were six people in that car, Penny noticed, but it was moving too fast for her to make out their faces, and as it sped past them and through the school gates, her eyes caught the license plate.

_05B0RN_

“That’s why,” Ned muttered.


	2. In which Penny meets the Six

Penny stared.

Underneath his fedora, Ned’s hair had been shaved haphazardly into something resembling a medieval monk’s tonsure. It seemed almost as though he had a bald patch, and Penny choked down the urge to laugh. Her schoolmates weren’t as circumspect, though, and as they passed by, Penny could hear more than a few of them cackle at the sight.

“Did they do that to you?”

Ned nodded, red-faced, and stuffed his fedora back onto his head. “Hailey’s boyfriend is the QB, and he got his goons to hold me down. Hailey was standing behind him with her phone out. Most of the school knows about it, but they don’t dare do anything about her, because her dad’s Norman Osborn.”

“Norman Osborn?”

Ned cleared his throat, glanced around, and squared his shoulders. “Well, I mean, if you still want to walk with me, we may as well. I, uh… I don’t really want to be late to school.” He started walking, and Penny kept up the pace. “Norman Osborn runs Oscorp.” He pointed at a skyscraper in the distance. “That’s his tower. Hailey stays there.”

“Oh.”

“More importantly, he’s the Chairman of the Parents’ Association, and since he became the Chairman, most of the teachers here have gotten huge pay raises. So they’re not gonna go after her for something as _small_ as this.”

As they passed through the gates, Penny could feel eyes on her. The effect was disconcerting. She knew that her body had changed since the incident, but… had it really changed so radically? _I think I liked it better when no one paid attention to me._ It felt strange to even think, but as she followed Ned into the crowded corridors of Midtown High, her danger-sense was tingling. _But that doesn’t make sense. This is just a high school. How could it be dangerous?_

“What about, like, whistle-blowing?” she asked Ned, struggling to be heard over the noise. “Like, a Twitter mob.”

“Not gonna happen,” Ned shouted, screaming the words directly into her ear. “Hailey’s got a ton of lackeys, and they’ll back her to the hilt. I’m just waiting to graduate -”

Penny opened her mouth to ask Ned why he’d suddenly stopped talking, but then she realized that the hubbub around her was gradually decreasing in volume… and that her danger-sense was spiking.

 _DANGER DANGER DANGER_ , it shrieked.

 _Where?_ Penny asked. _Oh_ , she thought, realizing. _But she’s just - she’s just a regular girl! How could she be dangerous?_

The “regular girl” in question extended her hand, smiling politely, and Penny shook it instinctively. Her palm was slightly clammy. “Hi. Penelope Parker?”

“That’s me.”

“You’re new here, right? I’ve been sent by Principal Morita to, uh, orient you around the school.” The girl squinted at Ned. He took a few steps back and ended up bumping into a girl, who shrieked and slipped back into the crowd. “What are _you_ doing here, Leeds?”

“Oh, uh. I ran into him on the train.”

“Ah.” The girl sniffed. “Anyway, I’m Edith, but everyone calls me Edie. Edith is _such_ an old-fashioned name, don’t you think?”

“Yeah.”

“Anyway, I’ll bring you to the office, and we’ll get you sorted out.” Briskly, Edie looped her arm through Penny’s and guided her through the hallways. She was surprisingly strong for such a skinny girl, and Penny looked over her shoulder helplessly at Ned as she was pulled away from him. _We can talk later,_ she mouthed.

Ned waved.

\-----

 _edie:_ yea she had a glow-up

 _hailey:_ called it

 _sandy:_ was she d girl whom u wr dragg 2 morita’s office??

 _edie:_ yeah

“She’s got an Instagram,” Liz noted, flicking through her phone and sucking noisily on her half-empty milkshake, “but it’s private, and I don’t think anyone from here is following her yet.” Releasing her milkshake, she tapped at her phone a while more and made a small noise of triumph. “Oh, wait. She’s got a Facebook. Oh, wow.” She sniggered. “Get a load of this.”

Hailey leaned over. A scrawny, bespectacled girl grinned up at the camera, posing beside a science fair project. "That's Parker?"

"Yeah. Talk about a glow-up, huh?"

 _edie:_ apparently ned leeds was stalking her on the train

 _max:_ ew

 _sandy:_ ew

 _hailey:_ ew

Edie sent them a clip. A pretty, bespectacled brunette was speaking to Ms Cox, Principal Morita’s secretary, and as Edie tilted the camera to the side, she caught Kenneth Lim and Vihaan Ramamurthy ogling the brunette’s ass as they walked by. “ _Hey_ ,” Edie hissed, voice scratchy. “ _Scram, pervs!_ ”

Max shook her head. “Puberty is a fickle mistress.”

“Let’s invite her to lunch,” Hailey decided. “Liv, what’s her schedule?”

“She’s got two classes with us today, after lunch,” Olivia rattled off, eyes reflecting the cold blue light of her phone screen. “Tuesday, three. Wednesday, two. Thursday, one. Friday, two. Shall I sync up her schedule with ours?”

“Nah. I mean, we don’t even know her yet.” Hailey smiled, a little sardonically, and interlaced her fingers. “We haven’t even been introduced properly.” A pause. “It wouldn’t do to just invite her to lunch, though. Max, could you have a word with Jason?”

\-----

Penny didn't know what to think.

On the one hand, what had happened to Ned was really screwed-up. On the other hand… well, Penny had been hoping to make friends at Midtown High, so if anyone tried to make friends with her, she certainly wouldn't be averse to following them on Instagram or something like that. She hadn't had a lot of friends back in LA.

Besides, although he seemed nice, Ned was a bit of a weirdo. She'd have to ask around and find out more about what had happened with him and the girl whose name started with "H". What was it, again? Hannah? Helen? Hope?

Fortunately, Penny didn’t run into Ned in any of her classes, so she didn't have to worry about interacting with him, which would have been awkward as hell. She did, however, run into Eugene Thompson.

“Hey,” he muttered, voice a tortured whisper. “You Penny Parker?”

Penny didn’t glance away from Ms Warren and her blackboard. “Uh, yeah.”

“I’m Ned’s friend. Eugene Thompson.”

“Oh, okay.” Penny peeked to the side and glimpsed a scrawny dude with an unruly mop of hair. "Nice to meet you?"

“Hey,” the guy sitting behind her hissed. “What’re you doing, Flash? Trying to feel up the new girl?”

Eugene (Flash?) straightened up in Penny’s peripheral vision, an affronted look on his face, and the guy behind Penny tapped her on the shoulder, then leaned forward when she wouldn’t turn around. “Hey, new girl. Wanna know why we call him Flash? Last year, he tried to impress Betty Brant during Phys Ed, and his pants -”

“Fuck off, Zach,” Eugene snarled, a little too loudly.

“Mr Thompson, is something the matter?”

“Uh, no.”

\-----

“She’s a total sweetheart,” Edie muttered. “Like, I saw her making friends left and right. ‘Course, it helps that she’s pretty and all.”

“Looks like she’s drawing closer to Leeds and his band of weirdos, though,” Liz remarked, waggling her phone. “Which is a shame. If he hadn't hit her up on the train…" She shook her head. "She really is too nice.”

“I don’t know,” Hailey pondered, thinking aloud. “I mean, she doesn’t really seem to know how things work here. Poor girl. It’s her first day, right? Does she strike you as a little naïve, Edie?”

“Oh, definitely.”

Hailey turned to Max. “Is Jason ready?”

“Yeah, but he’s having second thoughts.”

“Oh, she’s heading for the lunch lady. Yeah, I think you can send him out now.”

\-----

The guy who was approaching her waited until she’d gotten her food to say anything.

“Hi, Penny Parker?”

“Yeah?”

He extended his hand, forcing Penny to hold her tray with one hand to shake it. “Jason Ionello. I’m from the Midtown Bugle. You may have heard of us?”

“Uh, Edie told me a bit about you.” As they talked, Jason was guiding her down into the warren of students, elbowing people aside and cutting off inter-table conversations to clear a path for her. “The Midtown Bugle. That’s, uh, you named yourselves after the Daily B -”

“Yeah. We met in Literature.”

“Oh, okay.” Penny glanced around, perturbed. Her danger-sense was screeching again, but there was no danger to be seen. _What’s going on? Is something broken?_

“So, usually the Bugle does this for freshmen, but since it’s your first day here, we were wondering if we could ask you a few basic questions.”

“Uh, sure.”

Jason stopped, and Penny almost winced, because her danger-sense was screaming in her ear, telling her to _RUN RUN RUN_. The urge was overwhelming, but she didn't want to make a bad impression, so she wrestled it down and restrained herself from making a run for it. When she returned to herself, Jason was looking at her expectantly, and a bunch of guys to her left were laughing. “Sorry,” she managed, slapping a pained smile on her face. “What was that?”

Jason cleared his throat. “Is your muffin buttered?”

Penny looked down at her tray. There was no muffin there. “I’m sorry?”

“Would you like us to assign someone to butter your muffin?”

“Hey,” someone called, cutting through the noise, and Penny’s danger-sense spiked again. She glanced at the source of the sound, and saw a girl staring at her, a slight smile on her face. “Is he bothering you?” Without waiting for Penny to answer, she turned her gaze to Jason. “Jason, have we broken up? Because I’m pretty sure we’re still together.”

“Oh, fuck,” Jason muttered, and raised his voice. “Sorry, babe. I was just -”

“You were just playing, sure.” The girl’s smile turned brittle as she shifted in her seat, and Penny saw that she was wearing a denim jacket and a white tank top underneath. “Jason, do me a favour and sit somewhere far, far away from me.”

As Jason obediently whipped around and stalked away, Penny hung around, unsure of what to do, and snapped to attention as the girl in the denim jacket refocused on her. “You’re the new girl, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I’m Penny -”

“Penny Parker, right.” The girl straightened up, and Penny realized that she was sitting with a group of five other girls. “I’m Max. Edie’s here too.” On cue, Edie popped up, waving, and Penny smiled back uncertainly. “She’s told us a lot about you. Why don’t you come and sit with us?”

Penny looked around, failed to spot Ned and/or Eugene, and sat down.

Most of the rectangular tables in the Midtown High Cafeteria had two benches, one on each of the longer sides, but this table was different. There was a single backless stool on each of the shorter sides of the table, and it was upon one of those stools that Penny perched, mildly concerned and considerably off-balance, her danger-sense going haywire. _If you weren't faulty_ , she thought, hazily, _I'd be dead by now._

"Migraine?"

Penny looked up and realized that one of Max's friends - a bespectacled, frizzy-haired girl in a hoodie - had spoken to her. "Uh, yeah."

The frizzy-haired girl twisted her lips. "Tough."

"Yeah." Penny laughed nervously.

"Is that what your glasses are for? Because they don't seem to have any use."

"Oh, uh." Penny looked down at her tray, realized that the other girls had already dug in, and hastily unwrapped her reusable utensils. "I, uh, it's sentimental. I used to wear spectacles, so…"

"Liv asks the hard questions," another girl butted in, grinning, and Penny smiled back. "I'm Elizabeth, but you can call me Liz. Me and Liv, we run the STEM Club."

"MIT-bound," a stunning bottle-blonde hooted, wrapping her arm around Liz's shoulders, and pulled her close. Liz's expression conveyed that this was something that happened often, and as she shook herself free, the blonde leaned across the table and swatted at Penny's shoulder. "I'm Sandy."

"Her real name is Wendy."

"Shut _up_ , Max."

"She's like that," Max continued, unrepentantly. "Touchy-feely." She lowered her voice, stage-whispering. "Not too bright, though."

"Shut _up_!"

As Max and Sandy bickered, another girl - the only one who hadn't spoken thus far - leaned in. "Hi," she cooed, smiling warmly, and extended a hand. "I'm Hailey. It's so good to meet you. What's your name again? I didn't quite catch it the first time around."

Penny made a snap decision.

"Penelope Parker. Penny works, though."

\-----

 _olivia:_ wow, jason’s a great actor

 _max:_ ikr

 _hailey:_ if he doesnt make it to snl out he could always try sitcoms

 _hailey:_ he has a certain big bang theory kinda charm


	3. In which Penny meets MJ

When Penny ran into Ned after school, he gave her the side-eye, sniffed, and forged on ahead without her.

“Hey,” she pleaded, easily keeping pace with him as he plodded out through the school gates, “what did I do? I mean, I couldn’t find you in the crowd, so I just -” She searched helplessly for a justification. “They seemed _nice_.”

Ned refused to speak to her until she grabbed his arm, at which point his face turned crimson. Wordlessly, he guided her to a car that was idling in the corner and knocked on the window. The window rolled down, revealing Eugene, and after a whispered conversation, the back door swung open. Ned jumped in and gazed out, expectantly, at her. “My family owns a restaurant,” Eugene said. “C’mon, I’ll treat you to dinner. Me, Ned and MJ.”

_MJ?_

Penny bent down to peek into the car, and to her surprise, there was a girl inside, seated beside Ned, regarding her impassively. _Well,_ she thought, _if there’s another girl there, it won’t be so weird._

"Okay," she said, and slipped into the car.

\-----

 _Penny:_ im going out for dinner w friends

 _Ben:_ <crying emoji> O M G u r growing up so fast!!!

 _May:_ Stay safe

\-----

Dinner was great.

Eugene was _loaded_ , which came as a surprise to Penny, who’d never really encountered genuinely wealthy people before. She supposed that Hailey Osborn was wealthy, since her dad owned a building and a company, but she’d never come off as _wealthy_ wealthy. Then again, she hadn’t been flaunting it, and Penny had only known her for half a day (even though it felt as though they'd been friends for years). Eugene, though, flaunted his family's wealth _all the time_. With him, she could tell. With Hailey Osborn… it was a lot more difficult.

Still, the Italian food was great, and they had a corner of the restaurant all to themselves, so Penny could pig out. MJ wasn’t exactly a small eater, either, so she didn’t feel self-conscious, although Ned and Eugene tended to stare when they thought she wasn’t looking.

After the meal, Penny excused herself to the bathroom. She was drying her hands when MJ came in.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

After a brief stretch of awkward silence, MJ pointed over her shoulder. “They’re pervs, weirdos and creeps.”

Penny blinked. “Why’d you get in a car with them, then?”

“I can defend myself,” MJ chuckled, and pulled out a switchblade, at which point Penny backed into the hand-dryer. Her danger-sense hadn’t started blaring, though, so it was probably safe to assume that MJ meant her no harm. _Then again, it was going on and on while I was chatting with Hailey Osborn and her clique, so… I guess it’s not that reliable, huh?_ “Nah, I was just curious about you.”

“Curious?”

“Yeah. You’re the first transfer student I’ve ever met.” MJ stuffed her switchblade back into one of her many pockets and washed her hands. “Plus, you’re cute.”

Penny reddened. “T-Thanks.”

“They seem to like you, though.”

“Who?”

“Everyone,” MJ answered simply. “Osborn’s clique, Ned and Eugene, the teachers, most of the folks whom you’ve interacted with… you’re real sweet.”

“… I try?”

MJ regarded her for a moment, and Penny was starting to redden when she spun around abruptly and opened the door. “We’d better get back to them,” she threw over her shoulder. “Two girls, one bathroom, fifteen minutes… what would Ned think?”

Penny sputtered, but followed MJ out.

\-----

“So,” Ned began, fedora still planted firmly on his head, fingers steepled. “the Six.”

Penny raised her hand.

“Oh, no, Penny, you don’t need to raise your hand.”

“Who’s the Six?”

“Stop calling them the Six,” Eugene blurted, impatiently, and took an ostentatious sip from his jewel-encrusted goblet, which he apparently used for soda, water and everything in-between. “They’re Hailey Osborn’s clique. Osborn’s clique, whom you sat with at lunch.”

Ned rummaged in his backpack and pulled out a pack of Polaroids, which he dumped on the table with the air of a champion poker player laying down his cards. “I have here photographs of the S - _Osborn’s clique_.” He gathered them up again, arranging them in his hands, and brandished them one by one at Penny, who did her best to seem adequately interested.

“Wendy Baker,” he began, and pointed at Sandy, who was in a bikini, and looking over her sunglasses at the photographer. “She’s Hailey Osborn’s Vice-Captain on the cheerleading team, and she loves the beach so much it's practically a personality trait. Real party animal. I hear she kissed Gwen Stacy before, _with t_ -”

“Could we have the next one?” Penny interjected hurriedly.

Ned huffed, but set the Polaroid down with more care than it warranted and held up a photograph of Max, who was in a crop-top that looked more like a sports bra. She seemed to be in a club, and was wearing a pair of headphones. “Maxine Dillon,” he continued. “She’s the Head of the Publicity Department, but mostly bothers herself with stuff like school events, like Senior Prom, Midtown High’s social media accounts, and band performances. And stuff. She deejays at Warehouse Six, though.”

“What’s Warehouse Six?”

“Uh, Hailey Osborn owns it,” Eugene interrupted, and Ned closed his mouth, looking disgruntled. “It’s an old Oscorp warehouse, but she pimped it out, and it’s where all the big parties happen. I mean, not even regular seniors can get in! You need to be a _cool_ senior to get through the door. It’s got drugs, it’s got alcohol, it’s got hot girls…” His eyes had a faraway look. “Man, if I could get in…”

“ _Elizabeth Toomes_ ,” Ned exclaimed, a little louder than was necessary, and waved his Polaroid at Penny. This was a little less risqué than the previous two, and featured Liz in mid-jump, dancing amid a swarm of strobe lights, clad in a slinky, dark-green dress, a glass of amber liquid clutched to her chest. “That was taken at Warehouse Six too.” A pause. “She’s the Vice-Head of the STEM Club, and she knows everyone. Even me. She’s following me on Instagram. She likes all my posts.” Ned sniffed. “Personally, I think she likes me.”

“I don’t have any social media accounts,” MJ remarked, and Penny almost jumped, since she’d been silent for so long. “I only have a Tumblr, but she still managed to find it. She reblogs all of my shitty poetry.”

Ned nodded, pleased. “Edith Brock,” he continued, holding up a photograph of Edie, who was wearing a black beret and an off-shoulder dress bedecked in tiny crystals, sipping from a champagne flute, laughing at a joke which someone had made, blonde hair tied up in a ponytail. “She’s the Class Vice-President, and Vice-Head of the Publicity Department. She’s loaded.”

“Why are all of your Polaroids so… _weird_?” MJ asked, and Ned blanched. “It’s like… who took those photos? They look like pin-ups.”

“Some guy in the Publicity Department,” Ned replied, waspishly, and folded his arms. “One of Max Dillon’s lackeys, I guess. Every guy in school has a set of these.”

“Not true,” Eugene interrupted. “Hector Cervantez doesn’t.”

“That’s because he’s _gay_ ,” Ned spat, floundering, and took a deep, shuddering breath.

Penny took pity on him. “Why don’t you continue?”

Ned nodded. “Olivia Octavius,” he managed, holding up a photograph of Olivia, who was glaring at the camera, surrounded by writhing bodies, obviously ill-at-ease. “She doesn’t really go to parties, but she knows all about what goes on behind closed doors at Midtown High - funding, faculty turnover, school fees - that sort of thing. She’s the Head of the STEM Club.”

Penny nodded encouragingly.

“And Hailey Osborn,” Ned said, sitting back in his chair heavily, wiping his brow. “She needs no introduction. You can look at the Polaroid, I guess. Eugene’s seen it before.” Leaning forwards, he tried to flick the Polaroid across the table and stared in horror as it arced through the air.

Penny caught it just in time, though, and turned it over in her hand. Hailey’s red hair had been twisted into curls, and she was standing on tip-toes, eyes shut as she locked lips with a tall, broad-shouldered man dressed in a tuxedo. “Who’s this?”

“Oh, he’s the Midtown QB,” Ned sneered. _Oh_ , Penny realized, a second too late. _He’s the guy who… oh._ "Brad Davis.”

MJ cleared her throat. “Well,” she began, breezily, “I guess this is all well and good, and very interesting, but _oh my god would you look at the time!_ ” She looped one arm around Penny’s shoulder, and when Penny didn’t resist, pulled her to her feet. “We’ve really got to get going, Penny and I… we’ve got school tomorrow!”

“Wait,” Eugene bleated, jumping out of his seat. “I can… I can fetch you home.”

“We’re fine,” MJ insisted, manoeuvring a surprised Penny out of the restaurant. “Ned, you can keep those Polaroids!”

It wasn’t until they were out on the street that MJ let go. Penny had grown used to the warm weight of her arm around her shoulders, though, and couldn’t help but feel a little lost when it was gone.

“Can you find your own way back?”

“I’m new.”

“Damn.” MJ fell silent. “Shit. Fuck. I should’ve…”

“No, it’s fine,” Penny gabbled. “I don’t… it may be faster with Eugene, but I think it’d be really awkward. I prefer… I’d prefer it if you could…” She reddened.

“Sure, what’s your address?”

Penny rummaged in her phone for her address and showed it to MJ.

“Oh, that’s easy.” MJ looped her arm through Penny’s and started to guide her down the street. “You just need to take a right down that street, and…”

\-----

“I didn’t even believe girls like this existed until I met her,” Max said, and returned Liz her phone.

As Liz glanced at her phone, she noted that it had been charged back to 100%, and nodded at Max gratefully. After Max had fallen in with them, they’d completely stopped using power banks. “Yeah,” she agreed. “I mean, most people… you can tell how they’re gonna look like when they grow up. Others are just… like, puberty hits, and they completely change. Like, their jawline changes, they get abs…”

“Yeah, me and you, we had to work at it,” Max cackled. “Gym visits on Hailey’s dime, shopping trips… d’you remember that incident with the hair dye?”

“God, don’t remind me.” Liz ran her hands through her hair nervously. “Remember Carl King? He was this scrawny twerp all through middle school, and now he’s on the football team.” She hated to admit it, even to herself, but he was starting to get kinda dreamy.

Max smirked at her slyly. “Oh, does Liz have a crush?”

Sandy’s head snapped up from where she was slaving over the invites. “ _Liz has a crush?_ ”

To add insult to injury, Olivia poked her head out from the open basement door to chime in. “Yeah,” she added, grinning. “Carl King. It’s got to be Carl King. I caught her staring at his topless Snapchat during Mr Cobbwell’s class. You know the one.”

Liz buried her head in her hands. “Please stop.”

Mercifully, Edie - who was steadily working her way through a box of chocolates - changed the subject. “So, what are we gonna do about her?”

“She’ll be joining the STEM Club, most likely,” Olivia said, shutting the basement door behind her.

Without turning around, Liz called, “I don’t want to see any grease or oil trails originating from your workshop, Liv. Did you change out of your boots?”

“Nah, I’m still wearing them.”

Liz spun around, outraged, and relaxed. “Oh, you’re using your tentacles.”

“For the last time,” Olivia gritted out, “they’re actuators. _Not_ tentacles.” She glanced over Liz’s shoulder at Max. “Also, Max, you’re welcome to her if you want her. She seems to like photography, so she might be a good fit for Publicity.”

“D’you think she’d take to cheerleading?” Sandy wondered aloud. “She certainly has the figure for it.”

“Yeah,” Hailey cut in, “but so does Shan Nguyen, and look where she ended up.” Taking a long sip from her kombucha, she tapped at the LCD display on her treadmill and removed her AirPods. “Like, there’s plenty of cheerleader-types at Midtown, but not all of them are on the team, either because they’re not a good fit for the team, or because they don’t like cheerleading, and that’s totally fine.” As the treadmill ground to a halt, she leaned back, sighing as her back creaked, and switched out her Air Jordans for slippers. “Still, though, we ought to ease into it. She’s still very new to all this, and I don’t want to spook her.”

An hour passed.

Yawning, Max rose to her feet and threw on her coat. "I'm going home," she announced, and clapped her hands. "Bye, guys."

"Yeah, uh, actually, I should be going too -"

"Shit, look at the time, my parents are gonna kill me -"

Liz watched as they left, one by one, and listened for the telltale sound of Hailey's Ferrari leaving the garage next door, which was linked to the warehouse by an underground passage. Even Liv - whose relationship with her mother was famously stormy - had gone home. Leaning back against the sofa, she sighed and went down to switch on the backup generator.

The warehouse was curiously empty when it was just her, alone, and Liz found herself in an unusually sentimental mood. She always got like this when she was alone in the warehouse, and was happy that the rest had never seen her in such a state. Her mind wandering, she visited their rooms, one by one, the rooms which had been built for them, and drifted over the Polaroids lining the walls. There weren't a lot of them, but there was still time.

Sandy had redecorated again, and stuffed her room with fairy lights and Mason jars filled with seashells and sand. Liz shook her head at the sight. "Oh, Sandy, you're such a basic bitch."

Liz's bedroom was in the loft, separated from the open sky by a sturdy shutter. Solar panels lined the roof, and powered the backup generator for when Max wasn't around. Liz had plotted out a star map for the warehouse’s exact location and fit it to her bedroom's ceiling, and when she lay on her bed, she could almost imagine that she was lying under the stars. Of course, sometimes, that was exactly what she did.

She wasn't feeling like sleeping tonight, though.

Carefully, she slipped on her harness, the one that went over her back, and buckled on the miscellaneous bits that shielded her arms, her legs, her chest and her neck from any trauma. Her helmet followed, but this time, Liz allowed her hair and face to fly free, open-air, so that she could see and smell and taste the world, without such sensations being mediated and dampened by the metallic tang of her helmet.

She waited for the buoyant hum of electricity to reach her ears before rolling the roof back, and bent her knees just so…

And Liz Toomes flew.

\-----

They reached the subway in due course, after which it was simple enough for Penny to locate her own stop. She insisted on walking MJ home, though, which turned out to be a good thing.

“- you really don’t need to,” MJ complained, loudly, and Penny was turning to her, a rebuttal on her lips, on the verge of restarting their hour-long argument, when her danger-sense started going haywire. She closed her mouth, then, inhaling the cold night air, eyes sweeping over their darkened surroundings, goosebumps breaking out across her skin, and waited.

“Your wallets,” a man grated. “Now.”

Penny turned, her leg lashing out, and kicked him in the balls. As he crumpled backwards in pain, his grip on his pistol loosening, she leapt forward and grabbed the weapon. It was over in a matter of seconds, and as she returned to MJ’s side, trying to stabilize her breathing and the rapid-fire _thud-thud-thud_ of her heart, she checked her watch reflexively and found that only a few seconds had passed. As she looked up, their would-be robber scrambled to his feet, eyes wide with terror, and started sprinting in the opposite direction as fast as he could.

“What,” MJ said, “the fuck?”

Penny turned to the other girl and blanched when she realized that the gun was still in her hand. Trembling, she transferred it to her other hand, and then back again, and was still panicking over what to do with it when MJ took it from her and stuffed it into the waistband of her jeans. “Don’t worry about it,” she murmured, winking. “I know how to dispose of this sort of stuff.”

Penny took a deep breath. “See,” she managed, voice trembling. “This is why I insisted on accompanying you home.”

“Yeah, I guess you can take care of yourself, can’t you?” MJ looked Penny up and down, cheeks reddening, and opened her mouth, then closed it.

They walked to her house in silence.

“Well,” MJ remarked, matter-of-factly, “good night. I won’t say anything about what just happened if you don’t. It would really damage my reputation at school if this gets out.”

Penny didn’t know what to say to that, so she just said, “Uh, same.”

“Goodnight, Penny.”

Penny was about to respond in kind, but the door had already shut.

 _Right_ , she thought, patting her burning cheeks in a futile bid to get them to cool down. _Right. Home. I need to go home. Subway. Where’s the subway? My station is… yeah. Right. Right. School tomorrow._


	4. In which Penny is told about Ned

When Penny came down the stairs for breakfast the next day, she paused on the landing and narrowed her eyes.  
  
“What?”  
  
May turned back to her laptop, and Ben returned his attention to his newspapers.  
  
Penny planted her hands on her hips. “ _What?_ ”  
  
“Oh, nothing. Come down and have your breakfast, why don’t you?” Without looking up from her laptop, May gestured at the steaming plate beside her. “You had… you had a late night, didn’t you? Did you make friends?”  
  
“Uh, I guess.”  
  
“No hanky-panky?”  
  
“ _Ben!_ ”  
  
Ben hunched his shoulders behind his newspaper. “What? You were going to try and sneak it in, dear. It’d be better if I just dropped it in.” He turned to Penny, who was nibbling at her toast, eyes darting between the two of them. “So, Pen, what’s it going to be? Do I need to give some enterprising young gentleman the shovel talk?”  
  
“Oh, no.” Penny shook her head vigourously. “No. No hanky-panky. I went out for dinner with friends, and one of them brought me back.”  
  
“A boy?”  
  
“A girl.”  
  
“Oh.” Ben and May exchanged a glance. “That’s good. That’s good.” A pause. “Do we know her?”  
  
“You haven’t introduced me to any of your old friends.”  
  
“That we haven’t, Pen, that we haven’t.” Ben harrumphed, stuck his nose back into his newspapers, and rustled them gently. “May, shouldn’t we be leaving for work?”  
  
“Oh, yes.”  
  
\-----  
  
When Penny stepped into Mr Dell’s classroom, she blinked at the students staring blankly back at her - as was typical - and caught Sandy Baker’s eye - which was not. The other girl was waving at her frantically, sticking her arm all the way up in the air, and Edie Brock leaned forward and muttered something into the ear of the guy who was sitting in front of her. Slowly, but with increasing speed, the messy cluster of backpacks, notebooks, stationery and desks separated themselves into two relatively straight lines, creating a clear path for Penny to walk through. Obligingly, one of the boys at the back of the class moved over to another empty seat, leaving Penny a spot right in the midst of Hailey Osborn’s clique.  
  
Things were a little awkward, though Penny didn’t know why, and once Mr Dell started talking, she became faintly aware that Sandy had drifted off. The other girl was slumping back in her chair, breathing slowly and evenly, and her eyes were fluttering closed.  
  
Olivia tapped her on the shoulder. “Sandy’s a bad influence,” she muttered. “How are you holding up?” She cleared her throat. “Academically, I mean.”  
  
Penny laughed nervously. “I - um - there’s a lot to take in. They just dumped it all on me.” She shrugged, helplessly, and started to flip through her textbook, clicking at her ballpoint pen distractedly. “I’m, uh… which - where are we - ?”  
  
“Page 274.”  
  
“Oh, okay.”  
  
“I run study groups in the library,” Olivia added. “Not that you’d need it, of course, but there’s a fair bit of stuff to catch up on, and new transfers… well, I’m given to understand that the school’s policy on new transfers leaves much to be desired.” She lowered her voice still further. “If you ever need to copy anything, just let me know. I charge a very reasonable rate.”  
  
Penny nodded, wide-eyed.  
  
\-----  
  
“So,” Liz began, airily, “we heard that you went out with Flash Thompson, Ned Leeds and Michelle Jones last night.”  
  
Penny Parker glanced up, looking concerned, and Max stifled a yawn. Her whole deer-in-headlights act was starting to wear a bit thin. _Well, it could be that she’s always been like this_ , she argued, in the privacy of her own mind, and took a bite of her cookie. _Then again, guys love inexperienced girls. She could be angling for a boyfriend._  
  
She pulled out her phone and typed accordingly.  
  
“Oh, uh.” Penny Parker paused to think, briefly, and opened her mouth. “I… well, Eugene invited the three of us out for dinner. He paid. We talked about school. I mean, we just talked about Midtown High, like, retreading all the stuff which Edie told me yesterday morning.” She seemed to be wondering how to continue, and Max had an inkling of what she was about to say. “Uh, Ned said…”  
  
“Oh, is this about his involuntary haircut?” Hailey inquired innocently.  
  
Max held her breath.  
  
When no response was forthcoming, Hailey forged on. "Oh, Leeds seems decent enough now, but he used to be a real creep last year. He's a smart kid, you know." She paused for effect, as she always did, and Max smiled to herself. "Used his big brain to build himself a little spy camera to peek at the cheerleading team while we were showering."  
  
Parker looked shocked. _She's so innocent_ , Max thought. _It's got to be an act. I lost that sort of instinctive faith in humanity when I was, like, twelve._  
  
Hailey was smiling, now, primly, her crimson hair braided in tight, thick strips, but her eyes were deadly serious. "I mean, he got punished, but Brad - my boyfriend - decided that the school was being too lenient on him, and opted for a more… _direct_ approach." She rolled her eyes. "He's like that, you know. I mean, what can you do?"  
  
"It wasn't very nice."  
  
Max glanced from Hailey to Parker and back again. Parker was still sitting at her elbow, head tilted ever-so-slightly downwards, but she wasn't staring at her tray anymore. The table had fallen silent, and Edie - along with everyone else, including Max herself - was watching with rapt attention. _Yeah, drink it in, Ms Chief Editor,_ Max thought, uncharitably. _If you get in trouble with Hailey for writing about this in the Midtown Bugle, I'm not gonna save you_.  
  
"Well," Hailey said, eventually, "what's done is done." Calmly, deliberately, precisely, she looked down, signalling that the conversation was at an end, and started stirring her coffee.  
  
Liz jumped in to pick up the slack. "How do you find Flash? He's a little obnoxious, but he's not as bad as Leeds. Not as bad as Leeds _was_ , I mean. He could've transformed himself into a saint, and I'd still be wary of the guy."  
  
"Um, he's fine. He told me about a warehouse?"  
  
"Oh!" Sandy leaned in. "Flash doesn't know _anything_ about Warehouse Six. We've never let him through the door, not once." She lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Let me tell you how things _really_ are there…"  
  
\-----  
  
“So, she fancies herself a do-gooder, huh?”  
  
Edie looked up at Hailey, who had curled into herself, like a cat, tucking her legs up onto her leather seat. She was still tapping through her phone, eyes flicking over the screen, but her attention had shifted to other things. _Blood_ , Biter snarled, a patchy cloud of darkness flickering at the edge of her vision, and Edie pushed him down distractedly. “Did she get on your nerves?”  
  
“Parker?” Hailey let out a short, sharp bark of laughter. “ _No_.” Her expression turned pensive, and as she set down her phone and swept up a small glass of claret, she met Edie’s eyes. “I mean… she’s right, I guess. Perhaps I was a bit too hasty in condemning Leeds.”  
  
“You can’t seriously believe that, H.”  
  
“No. I don’t.” Hailey tossed her hair. “There’s a lot of people who believe that, though.” She pursed her ruby-red lips and took a sip. “It would be useful, I think, to bring Parker on-side. She’s a newcomer, which means that she’s unburdened by any… _baggage_. Plus, she’s already getting a reputation as a goody two-shoes, so if she’s up here with us, that’ll be a nice sop to throw to the masses.” She slipped into a mocking accent. “ _Oh, Penny Parker agrees with Hailey Osborn… if she doesn’t disagree with her, then who am I to complain?_ ”  
  
Hailey was chasing after _ideological hegemony_. (Edie had come across that in one of her AP classes.) It was probably futile, but Hailey had never listened to her when it came to such things, and she wasn’t about to start listening now. “Uh, okay.”  
  
“No, Ed, think about it. If even Parker falls in with us, no one will be able to say _anything_.” Hailey’s eyes were glittering, and little spots of red had appeared on her pale, pale cheeks. “People whisper, Ed. Not even Liz has access to their Instagram DMs or their Telegram chat-logs.” She paused. “I’ve half a mind to ask Olivia to work on a solution to that thorny little issue, but what would that do for me? Nothing. It’s not like I can order them to stop thinking such things about me. What I _can_ do, though, is burnish my reputation by surrounding myself with people like Penny Parker.”  
  
Edie glanced out the window, and out over the skyline. Max and Liz were back at the warehouse, tinkering with some finicky little contraption, while Olivia was back at school, yelling at freshmen and scaring off seniors. Sandy was out shopping with the rest of the cheerleading team. _Oh, right._ “You know Sandy’s out shopping with the rest of your team, right?”  
  
Hailey waved a hand irritably. “I told them I was on my period. They receive enough of my attention as it is; they can handle themselves.” She smirked. “Besides, Sandy’s too dumb to steal them from under my nose.”  
  
Edie nodded, adjusted the hem of her skirt, and leaned back. “Right.”  
  
They sat in silence for a while. Edie tapped through Instagram. Hailey finished her claret.  
  
Then there was the sound of a door opening. “Oh, Edie!” Mrs Osborn gushed. “How nice to see you!” She bustled over, the stink of her perfume enveloping Edie like a noxious cloud of chlorine gas, and clasped her hands. “How’s your father?”  
  
Edie smiled tightly. “He’s well, Mrs Osborn.”  
  
“Please, call me Emily.” Mrs Osborn kissed her on each cheek in what she must have thought was the French fashion, and Biter purred at the sensation, prompting an internal eye-roll from Edie. “Mrs Osborn is _such_ an _old_ name. It makes me sound like I belong to my husband! Gosh, how patriarchal.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Don’t you agree, Norman?”  
  
“Quite,” Mr Osborn agreed dryly. He stopped a few feet from her, green eyes glittering, cat-like, just like Hailey’s. “What a surprise, Ms Brock. Where are Hailey’s other partners in crime?”  
  
Edie narrowed her eyes, and Mr Osborn’s razor-thin smile widened slightly. “Oh, they’re busy, Mr Osborn.”  
  
“What a wonderful chat!” Mrs Osborn exclaimed. “I _must_ rush, though - I’ve got an appointment with the girls for afternoon tea. Norman, back to work, shoo. Shoo.” She bustled off, disappearing around the corner, and the three of them waited until the sound of her heels faded before retiring to the couch. Mr Osborn loosened his tie, accepting a glass of claret from Hailey, and sat down opposite the two of them.  
  
“Did lunch go well, Daddy?”  
  
“It went as well as it always does,” Mr Osborn answered, curtly, and took a sip. “Now, Hailey, Ms Brock… there’s something I’d like you to know.” Biter shied away from him as he leaned forward, and Edie laughed at him in the privacy of her own mind. _Coward_.  
  
Biter hissed. _He almost killed us.  
  
He almost killed **you**_ , Edie corrected. _I only risked a couple of ruptured eardrums, you slimy git.  
  
Fug on.  
  
That’s **fuck off** , Biter. You’re a slow learner._  
  
“Ms Brock?”  
  
“Sorry.” Hailey stepped on her foot, and Edie dipped her head, an apologetic smile flitting across her face. “It’s Biter. He’s… he doesn’t like you.”  
  
“Oh, you mean the…” Mr Osborn made a vague gesture.  
  
“Yes, Mr Osborn.”  
  
“Well, I’ll recap.” Mr Osborn interlaced his fingers. “You are aware of Frank Castle, I believe.”  
  
“Oh, yes.”  
  
“He’s back in town.” Mr Osborn leaned back. “Went on a little excursion to Mexico, or so I’ve heard, and left a great deal of chaos in his wake, but that’s neither here nor there. What’s important, Ms Brock, is that he’s been nosing around. When he left, Wilson Fisk had only just managed to consolidate control over the underground and land the first few blows on the Maggia. Now, the fat man’s made it to City Hall.” He sneered, briefly, but quashed it, and Edie traded a brief, barely-there glance with Hailey. “Castle may be a lunatic, but he’s not stupid. He’s working his way up. He’s been cleaning up unaffiliated gangs, and it is possible that he might endeavour to target you.” He raised an eyebrow. “You are, after all, an unaffiliated gang.”  
  
“Yes, Mr Osborn.”  
  
“Well, this is just to let you know. I’d hate for any of you to be injured on my behalf.” Mr Osborn rose to his feet. “Don’t antagonize the man, mind. If any of you spot him, let Hailey know. It’s in all of our interests to resolve that issue as quickly as possible.”  
  
As the door swung shut behind him, Hailey leapt back over to the couch which he had vacated and resumed lounging on it. “Can you believe I once thought the Punisher was _hot_?”  
  
Edie giggled. “You totally did. Guess you’ve got a thing for older guys, huh?”  
  
Hailey threw her glass of claret at her.


	5. In which Penny gets a makeover

After those first few heady days, school started to settle into a pattern for Penny.  
  
Eugene kept treating her and MJ to dinner, and Ned would sometimes tag along, but Penny had never been able to pony up the courage to ask Ned about what Hailey Osborn had told her. They didn’t even know each other that well, anyway. They’d talk about school, and the daily indignities of being teenagers, and all that kinda stuff, but Ned and Eugene - apart from griping about how Hailey’s clique was stuck-up - had never managed to level any significant accusations in their direction apart from… well… the obvious.

They complained about a ton of other stuff, though, and that was how Penny learnt about most of the student body. Ned had a surprisingly large collection of photographs to use as photo references, which Penny found a bit creepy, but he’d explained that he’d gotten them from the yearbook, which made everything better, apparently.  
  
Of course, she didn’t allow their grievances to shape how she viewed those other kids. Sometimes, if she recognized a student in class, having seen them the previous night in Ned’s collection, she’d say hi and strike up a conversation before or after class, or perhaps during a lull. There were a few brief moments of trepidation as they turned around and saw her approaching, but after the first few weeks had gone by, that initial fear(?) had completely melted away, and Penny was making friends.  
  
Making! Friends!  
  
Actual! Friends!  
  
Life was good.  
  
“Wanna know why they look so terrified?” MJ asked her, one night, while they were walking back to MJ's house.  
  
“Why?”  
  
“It’s because you’re sitting with Osborn’s clique. There’s, like, a lot of people at Midtown who’re just straight-up scared of ‘em.” MJ took a drag from her Juul. “Also, hot girls are intimidating.”  
  
“I’m not hot.”  
  
“You are.”  
  
Penny flushed. “I am?”  
  
She walked MJ home whenever they went out for dinner with Eugene and Ned. There was always something interesting to talk about, but more often, they walked in silence. It was a companionable silence, though, a comfortable silence, and Penny didn’t feel obliged to fill it in the same way that she did when she was with the two boys. (They were always talking, anyway, so she didn’t really need to fill the silence that much.)  
  
And then, of course, there was Hailey Osborn’s clique.  
  
They didn’t really sit together at lunch all the time, but whenever she was in the same class as them, all it took was one look from any one of them and Penny wouldn’t have anywhere else to sit except with them. It wasn’t _bad_ , not exactly, but she would have appreciated having a choice. Anyway, they were helpful.  
  
Liz knew more about her schoolmates than Ned, and Olivia was a godsend. Her study sessions had rescued Penny from failing History, of all things, and she could be funny, in a dry kind of way. As for the other four, well… Penny struggled to come up with a concrete trait for each of them, but they chatted with her about anything and everything, and would listen whenever she ventured any little tidbit of information about herself or her schoolmates.  
  
And everyone loved them.  
  
Penny could see it in the way they walked through the halls. It was irrational to even think, but it was like they were invincible, and once she even caught Brian McKeever bowing to them as they passed.  
  
“There’s going to be a fire drill in a few minutes,” Hailey had remarked, once, while they were in the cafeteria, and Penny had started to pack up her lunch. “Oh, you don’t need to do that. Take your time. We won’t need to evacuate.” She waved a hand at Sandy. “I told Coach Wilson we had to skip it because Sandy might be pregnant.” The table burst into laughter, then, and Penny chuckled along, uncomprehending.  
  
That was the thing about them, wasn’t it? Penny liked being around them, and she liked being counted as one of them, but she wasn’t one of them, not really. They had their own little in-jokes, and whenever Penny asked about them, they’d give her this side-eye and say, “Uh, maybe next time.” This happened about three times, after which Penny gave up.  
  
Still, it was fun. School was fun. Fitting in was fun. Being liked was fun. Penny still remembered being laughed at for liking Harry Morris in middle school, back in LA, and high school had seemed to be turning out the same way… at least until May and Ben had switched jobs. It was a new start, and the spider-bite - which had made her three inches taller, fifteen pounds lighter and one cup size bigger - had only driven that point home.  
  
\-----  
  
Hailey’s clique had their own ties to other cliques. They overlapped, like a Venn diagram, and sometimes, because Hailey’s clique liked her, Penny found that a ton of other people liked her too, even though they hadn’t spoken ever before. For instance, while she was on her way out of the school gates, a tall, dazzling blonde bumped into her, and Penny - momentarily disoriented by the sheer wattage of her smile - halted.  
  
“Hey, Penny, right?”  
  
“Um, yeah?”  
  
“I’m Gwen. Sandy asked me to ask you if you wanted to go shopping today.” Gwen slumped against the lockers dramatically, eyes fluttering, and pushed herself upright. “God, I’ve been searching high and low for you. You’re hard to find, you know?”  
  
There was a sleek, expensive-looking van loitering outside, and as Penny slid inside, Sandy grabbed her arm and pulled her over. “Ambushed!” she crowed, looping one arm around her shoulders. “We’re gonna be giving you a makeover today, girl, ‘cos god knows you need one.”

Penny’s head spun. The van was dark, but there were a bunch of multi-coloured lights hanging from the ceiling, revolving slowly, and a loud, throbbing beat was radiating from the speakers. She’d never been in such close proximity to such an alarming number of pretty girls in her life. Hailey leaned over. “Max’s birthday is tonight, and we were wondering if you wanted to come along. No pressure, ‘course.”

“I… sure!”

" _Rad_ ," Sandy shrieked, in her ear, and plucked her spectacles from her face. Penny, still half-stunned, didn’t stop her. The dull throb of her danger-sense had begun to fade after her first few run-ins with Hailey’s clique, but it had never truly gone away, and she’d grown used to holding it down whenever it sparked. They _were_ dangerous, that much was true - when had her danger-sense ever failed her? - but Penny just hadn’t been able to puzzle out _how_. “I’ve been restraining myself from removing that monstrosity from your face since day one,” Sandy was saying, Hailey rolling her eyes in the background, pressing a small glass of liquid into her hand. “Your eyes are _beautiful_ , girl, and you need to share them with the world.”

“Um,” Penny said.

“No, seriously,” Sandy insisted, and was backed up by her peers. In the face of such overwhelming approval, what could Penny do but acquiesce? A mirror was raised to her face, and as Penny gazed upon her face, she had to admit that… yeah, she _did_ look better. Sandy was right. “See? See?”

“Um,” Penny tried, again, “what’s - what’s this?” She raised her cup.

“Alcohol,” Hailey said. “ _Duh_.”

“I’m - isn’t the drinking age -”

“Just don’t get caught,” Gwen insisted, and - as if to demonstrate - raised her own cup to her mouth. “C’mon. My dad’s in the NYPD, and he says the cops have more shit to deal with than a bunch of teenagers drinking. Anyway, it’s just a bit of pre-gaming. We’ll ease you into it.”

“I’ll, uh…” Penny looked down at the cup. “Okay.”

“Yeah, that’ll do it,” Hailey commented, satisfied, and took the empty cup from her. “Yeah, uh… you’re not the first girl whom we’ve given a makeover to. I guess you’ve never drank before, right?"

Penny nodded. Her face was a little warm, although that may have been from the incredible rush that came from being surrounded by girls her age who weren’t laughing at her.

“That’s what I thought. Don’t worry, we’ll pace you.”

Hailey led them from the car-park into an intimate, carpeted corridor, where she was received by an immaculately-dressed woman who addressed her as “Miss Osborn”. Penny looked around, concerned that she was to be surrounded by tall, towering blondes, but calmed down once she realized that she wasn’t the shortest girl in the group. No, that honour belonged to Betty Brant.

“I haven’t gone shopping with other girls before,” she confessed to Jenny Carson, still high on the experience, and Jenny smirked.

“Yeah,” she muttered, “we can tell.”

The corridor opened up into a blinding-white department store. It was completely empty, and as Penny turned around to see the doors to the corridor hissing shut, Hailey turned around and clapped her hands. “Booked for the day,” she announced. “For those of you who need to pick up new clothes, go forth! Sandy, to me.” The other girls - most of whom, Penny was fairly sure, were cheerleaders - scattered, with an air of nonchalance, and Penny froze like a deer in the headlights. She’d never been in a department store with other girls before; May had always picked out clothes for her to wear, and whenever she chose her own clothes, she’d always settled for hoodies or -

“Is this your first time?”

“Uh, no. I’ve been with my aunt -”

“Yeah, it’s your first time.” Sandy looped her arm through Penny’s left, and Hailey followed suit on her right. “It’s okay. Training wheels. By the time we’re done with you, no one at school is gonna be able to recognize you.”

A few long moments later, she added, “In a good way.”

\-----

 _hailey_ : omg she’s such a fucking nerd

Jason had been snoring for the past thirty minutes, even though it wasn’t even that late. As her phone buzzed, Max wriggled free of his grasp and cast an appreciative gaze over his bare abs before unlocking it.

 _liz:_ wdym

 _hailey:_ she’s never gone shopping, she doesn’t drink

 _hailey:_ like she’s SO. FUCKING. INEXPERIENCED.

 _olivia:_ i resemble that comment

 _hailey:_ ur not nice liv

 _hailey:_ parker’s nice. ur not

 _hailey:_ like the biggest thing abt her is that she’s so nice

 _hailey:_ like i can’t even

 _hailey_ : i’m gna teach her so much

Max let out a sharp gasp of laughter, froze as Jason stirred in bed behind her, and jumped to her feet to tiptoe into her bathroom. Her parents wouldn’t be back from work for another half-hour, so she’d probably have to wake him up in fifteen minutes or so. Rubbing her eyes with one hand, she fumbled for her vape pen and relaxed as her fingers closed around it before settling on the toilet seat.

 _max:_ might wna have a chat w liv

 _max:_ u know how she gets

 _edie:_ sigh

 _edie:_ yea i will

 _edie:_ that’s me, always cleaning up after hailey

 _edie:_ ur like the third person to tell me after liz n sandy lol

 _max:_ shut up, u love playing the good cop

Olivia had done some work on her vape pen and re-gifted it to her for Christmas, for which Max was deeply, deeply thankful; it was a beyond-cool accessory. As she turned it over in her hands, Max tightened her grip and smiled as the device began to warm up beneath her fingers. Blue light began to flicker beneath her palm, and as she held it between her two fingers, little lightning bolt motifs started to dance along the length of her vape pen. She stuck it in her mouth, inhaled deeply, and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

 _sandy:_ we r done!!

 _sandy:_ getting dinner now

 _sandy:_ who’s @ d club??

 _edie:_ me liv n liz

 _edie:_ u n hailey can come ltr

 _edie:_ depends on when max is rdy

 _max:_ i’ll b ovr in 1/2

Jason jerked awake, gasping, and Max turned back from her vanity table to squint at him. His chest was rising and falling, rising and falling, and he was clutching at his bicep, patting himself down, eyes flicking madly around her room.

“What?” she asked, when his eyes settled on her.

“Uh, nothing.” Jason bent down, scrabbled for his underpants, and disappeared beneath her covers. His muffled voice drifted out to her. “I just thought… man, your bedsheets. That’s a lot of static electricity.”

Max turned back to her mirror, finished off her lipstick, and smiled to herself.


	6. In which Penny gets grounded

When Penny woke up, she had a splitting headache.

She was lying on her back, head lolling to the side, and as her eyes trailed blearily over the ceiling, she caught sight of a chandelier and paused.

_Wait. Where am I?_

She’d been dumped unceremoniously onto a mattress, and as Penny jerked upright and patted herself down, wide-eyed, she noticed that there were three other girls on the same bed as her. When she leaned over and poked them, though, none of them stirred, but they seemed to be breathing, so Penny slipped off the bed and wandered to the window. It was an enormous floor-to-ceiling aperture, and as Penny stared out of it, she could see the entire city laid out before her. It was a beautiful view. _I must be very high up_. The carpet was lovely and soft beneath her bare feet, and Penny savoured the sensation as she padded over to the pile of bags stacked up in the corner. After a few minutes of her riffling through the pile, she found her school bag. Everything was in its proper place, but her phone… where was her phone?

_Screw that, what happened last night?_

Hailey had treated them to dinner at a swanky restaurant after the department store. Penny didn’t really remember what they’d had for dinner, but what she _did_ remember was that the food had been _fantastic_. After that, they’d been whisked off to Hailey’s club. There had been a lot of people, and at some point, she’d fallen asleep.

Penny winced and tilted her head to the side. Her head was still ringing. _Did something happen to me?_

Sandy had kept a tight grip on her shoulder as they’d made their way around the club. She was very chatty, and Penny remembered smiling woozily as they lurched from person to person. There were a few guys who’d tried to touch her, but she’d batted them away. _Thank goodness for my trusty danger-sense._

There were a ton of sculptures and paintings in this place, and it was _huge_. Every time she turned a corner, there seemed to be more rooms for her to explore. There were enough TVs in this apartment(?) to fill an entire Best Buy, and the whole place just felt expensive. As she wandered out onto a gleaming staircase, her danger-sense flared, and Penny looked down, the hair on the back of her neck rising.

“And who would you be?”

There was a man at the bottom of the stairs. He was wearing a dressing gown, and his eyes were narrowed as he stared up at her. Penny smiled, awkwardly, and hugged herself, acutely aware that her skirt was very, very short. “Um, hi…”

“You must be one of Hailey’s friends,” the man said, neutrally. “Do try not to touch anything.”

As Penny stared at him, he pivoted on his heel and walked off.

She hung around on the staircase for a few more minutes, unsure of herself, but eventually plucked up the courage to venture downstairs. It seemed to lead into a large atrium of some sort, and the entire space was totally dominated by an antique-looking oil painting. Penny inched forwards, eyes widening to take in the entire work, and whipped around, hackles raised, as her danger-sense pulsed again. There was no one sneaking up on her, though, and Penny turned back to examine the painting. _You're being paranoid_ , she told herself, sternly. _Stop being paranoid_.

Most of the people in the painting were pale and red-headed, and all of them were dressed impeccably, in tuxedos and gowns. The man who’d questioned her was in the centre of the painting, and Hailey was standing in front of him, staring out at the viewer, a smirk on her pretty face. She was wearing a pink, frilly dress, and Penny took another step forwards -

“I’m not a big fan of that painting.”

It was Hailey. She’d changed out of the dress which she’d worn last night, and was instead garbed in a silky set of monogrammed pyjamas. “Do you remember what happened last night?”

“Uh, no.”

“You got a little… carried away.”

“Oh, no."

“Relax, it’s not a big deal.” Slinging her arm casually around Penny’s shoulders, Hailey guided her into the maze of corridors. “You drank a bit too much. It happens to all of us. Hell, it happened to me. Anyway, it’s good to get blackout drunk at least once. That way, you’ll know how it feels like.” She gestured at a nearby sculpture, smiling lazily. “Oh, and by the way, this is where I live. You’re in Oscorp Tower.”

“Oh,” Penny managed, trying not to gape.

“Don’t worry, there aren’t any boys here. Well, except from my dad and the butlers.” Hailey shrugged. “It’s like a sleepover… emphasis on _sleep_.”

“Do you know where my phone is?”

“Oh, yeah.” Abruptly changing direction, Hailey steered the two of them into a palatial, sweet-smelling chamber. “This is my room.” Liz was on the bed, lying on her stomach, feet in the air, texting, and as Penny noticed her, she looked up and waved. Her phone was on top of a chest of drawers, and Hailey plucked it up and pressed it into her hand. “We usually keep people’s phones when they come to the club,” she explained. “Just in case, you know.”

Penny nodded, cheeks warm. As she looked down at her phone, though, her embarrassment morphed into alarm. “Oh, no,” she murmured.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s my aunt and uncle. I don’t think they were expecting me to spend the night.”

“Oh.” Hailey exchanged a glance with Liz. “Well, that’s easily fixable. We can drop you off at your place. Just… one minute. I’ll get someone to load your new clothes into my car.”

“My new clothes?!”

\-----

After she’d sorted out all of her new clothes (i.e. dumped them in her bedroom), Penny went downstairs.

May and Ben were sitting on the couch, expectantly, and Penny - obligingly - sat down on a nearby chair. She hadn’t changed out of her dress, and it was starting to feel a little tight. _I don’t usually look like this_ , she thought. _Maybe I should… um…_

“Where are your spectacles?”

Penny opened her mouth, then closed it. “I… uh… they took it. I don’t really need them, anyway, and they told me I looked better without them, so -”

“Those were your father’s spectacles,” Ben said, heavily, and Penny bit her lip. “You used to wear them all the time when you were younger.”

“You didn’t call,” May continued. “You didn’t text. What were we supposed to think? We were just about to call the cops when that _friend_ of yours pulled up outside our house.” She’d drawn herself up in her chair, spine ramrod-straight, and her eyes were cold and furious. “Don’t lie to me, Penelope. I know what alcohol smells like, and right now, you _reek_ of it.”

Penny’s face twisted miserably.

“Did you buy those clothes?”

“No,” Penny sniffed. “It was Hailey. She bought them for me.”

“Ah, the girl in the pink convertible.” Ben folded his arms. “Here’s what you’re going to do, Penny. When you go back to school on Monday, you’re going to ask for your father’s spectacles. We don’t want to humiliate you, so you’re not going to return those clothes to… _Hailey_ … just yet. We’ll wait for a better time.” He removed his own spectacles and rubbed his eyes. “You’re not going to be going to any more parties. After you’re done with school, you’re going to come back home for dinner _immediately_. If we see improvement, we'll allow you to go out for dinner again, but you won't be attending any more parties. Is that understood?”

Penny nodded.

“Good.” Ben glanced away. “Penny, we’re not trying to torture you. This is for your own -”

Penny stood up and ran back to her room. She’d heard enough.

\-----

As Olivia stepped into the café, she glanced around, eyes skittering over the clientele, and relaxed. One of the waitresses was approaching her, asking if she had a reservation, but Olivia walked past her, shrugging off her hand, and stopped in front of one table in particular. There was a heavyset man sitting there, nursing a steaming cup of coffee, and as he looked up at her, Olivia felt a tentative smile flicker across her face.

“Hi, Dad.”

“Livvy.” Torbert Octavius smiled back, standing up, and Olivia sagged into his arms. “Come. Sit.”

Her father was a foreman. He wasn’t a rich man, but he’d supported her, unlike her mother, and Olivia was grateful to him for that. They didn’t talk much, but Olivia could tell that he was proud of her, and that was all that she’d ever wanted from him. Neither of them were very talkative, and after ordering, they sat in silence until the food arrived.

“How’s Mom?”

Her father pressed his lips together. “She’s… well, she’s still upset.”

Olivia frowned at her plate. “She’s always upset.” Her mother had never been supportive of her decision to venture into STEM. Her father had seen her potential, though, and since it was his opinion that counted in the Octavius household, her mother had resigned herself to making snide remarks and goading her daughter into arguments. “Did she… is she taking her blood pressure pills?”

“Yes. She’s well, but she’s upset.” Her father shook his head. “As she always is.” He paused, chewing at a particularly stiff piece of beef, and swallowed, moustache quivering. “Livvy, you know… I’ve always wanted the best for you. It’s good that you’re coming up in the world. You’re going to have a better life than I did, and that’s… that’s really all that a parent could ask for.”

_But?_

“But… well… we’re just worried. Your mother and I. We don’t want you to overreach. Moving out at such a young age…”

“I can take care of myself, Dad.” Olivia paused to take a sip from her glass. “I know Hailey Osborn and Edie Brock, remember?”

“It’s still a bit abrupt,” her father tried. “It seems to me that you said that in a fit of pique.”

“I never say things in a fit of pique, Dad,” Olivia answered, trying to keep her volume down, and took a deep breath. “I’ve been thinking of doing it for a while. Whenever I left for a sleepover with my friends, I brought my backpack with me. Remember? I’ve been hollowing out my wardrobe for some time.”

“How about those Hello Kitty plushies? You loved those when you were smaller.”

“I’m not interested in that sort of stuff anymore,” Olivia lied. “I’ve grown up.” _Besides, I can always buy more. I’m rich now, Dad. Richer than you could ever be. I could buy you and Mom a dozen houses, and I’d still have a million left over for myself._

Her father made a few more attempts to persuade her to change her mind, but it was obvious that his heart wasn’t really in it, and, in any case, she’d made up her mind. He’d have to get back to work in a few minutes, anyway. Briskly, they finished up their respective lunches and split the bill. “If you’re going to be living on your own,” he told her, chuckling, “you’d better get used to paying for your own meals.”

Olivia didn’t really think that there was anything left for her in her parents’ apartment. There may have been a few items of clothing, perhaps, but she’d moved all of her books and devices over to the warehouse a long time ago, and those were the only things that she considered to be genuinely important. The thought of never returning made a frisson of excitement travel up and down her spine, and as the taxi carried her away from the hustle and bustle of residential New York, Olivia relaxed into her seat and built robots in her head.

The warehouse was located in a relatively run-down part of town, but Olivia wasn’t very worried, although the taxi driver seemed a bit concerned on her behalf. All the surrounding properties had been booby-trapped, after all. As usual, Liz was lounging in front of the TV, reading a book.

“Oh, you’re back.”

“Astute observation, Sherlock.”

“Go away,” Liz retorted, turning back to her book, and Olivia padded across the hardwood floors to ascend the staircase. After slipping into something more comfortable, she returned to the ground floor and seated herself on a beanbag chair.

“Why is the TV on if you’re reading a book?”

“Background music.”

“It’s a waste of electricity.”

“It’s _fine_. I’ll just wait until Max gets here.”

“Where are the rest, anyway?”

Liz rolled her eyes and turned a page. “Where else? Shopping.”

\-----

None of them felt like cooking, so they ordered pizza and finished off the massive cake that Hailey had bought for Max’s birthday. After she’d had her fill, Olivia slipped downstairs, into her workshop, and tinkered for a few hours.

Tonight’s job was simple; the Mayor’s goons were receiving a shipment of drugs down by the docks, and they were going to take control of it. In Olivia’s opinion, sending all of them down to deal with fifty or sixty heavily-armed men was a bit excessive, but what did she know? Anyway, it was fun, so she wasn’t complaining.

“Hey.”

Olivia paused and removed her welding mask. “Yeah?”

Liz jerked her chin over her shoulder. “We’re going out.”

“Okay.”

She seemed excited, and Olivia couldn’t blame her. What they did was _special_. This was _real_. The adrenalin rush that she got from gallivanting around New York at night was like nothing else, and she wouldn’t have traded it for the world. Of course, she’d never spoken about it with the others, but she had a hunch that they all felt the same way.

Carefully, she reached behind and peeled off the flesh-coloured plaster that shielded the back of her neck from prying eyes. She’d installed a small chip there, no larger than her knuckle. It had been a harrowing and painful experience, to be sure, but the rewards were immense. Pulling off her sweater, she took one step back, and then another, and another, and another -

There was a metallic _click_ as her chip interfaced with her harness, and Olivia relaxed as overlapping layers of stainless steel slid across her torso. Her actuators whirred into life, a few thousand pounds’ worth of titanium-steel at her beck and call, and she couldn’t help but giggle, eyes alight with wonder, as they lifted her into the air.

_This never gets old._

When she emerged from her laboratory, Liz was already waiting for her. “Early as always,” Olivia sniped, swatting playfully at the other girl from where she was gliding just below the rafters. She felt lighter, somehow, and happier. She always felt more at ease when she was using her actuators. “Where’s the rest?”

“Max and Hailey are still getting ready,” Liz called, her bulky helmet reducing her voice to a monotonous drone. “I think Edie is…”

“I’m here,” Edie interrupted, emerging from the shadows, and Liz shrieked. “Sorry. I was talking to Biter.”

“The look on your face,” Olivia gasped. “Oh, fuck. That’s _priceless_.”

“Go away.” Liz’s expression changed as she caught sight of Sandy, and Olivia turned, pincers clicking against the floor. “Hey, you can’t go out looking like that. They’ll ID you in seconds!”

“Chill out, okay?” Sandy rolled her eyes and ran her hands through her hair. She’d grown taller and wider, but her proportions were still very recognizable. As Olivia watched, she ran a hand over her face, smudging her features as though they were putty. When she next spoke, her voice sounded muffled, which made sense, since her lips had disappeared entirely. “Good enough?”

“Yeah.” Liz shook her head. “Sorry. Nerves.”

Edie shrugged, the oily-black of her skin rippling grotesquely. “It happens.”

“Oh, yeah,” Olivia remembered. “Edie, Sandy, do you have the headsets I made for you?”

The two girls responded in the affirmative.

“Yeah, so… I modified them a bit.”

“How so?” Max asked.

Olivia slid her helmet on and activated its HUD. “Just put on your helmet and try it.”

Max followed suit, and a few seconds later, Olivia heard her gasp, clear as day. “Oh, this is _sweet_.”

“Yeah, so we can talk over this network. It’s totally secure, so no one will be able to spy on us.”

One by one, the rest of them came online, even Hailey. “Where are you, girl?” Sandy demanded.

“I’m out, I’m out,” Hailey retorted, impatiently, and stepped out of her room, adjusting her helmet irritably. Her glider - an enormous device that weighed around twice as much as her - was cradled under her arm, and as Olivia watched, she set it down on the floor and initialized it, arms pinwheeling as it rose into the air. “Shit, shit, shit.”

“Is it working?” Liz asked worriedly.

“No, yeah, it works. I’m just… the added weight of armour makes it feel a little harder to control.” The glider cruised over the railing, performing a slow rotation, and Hailey’s rapid breathing slowed. “Okay, I’ve got it. Is everyone ready?”

“We were waiting for you, actually.”

“Oh.”

Edie gasped. “Olivia,” she breathed, “did you… is this a playlist?”

As Olivia explained how the network functioned, Max reached into the fuse box and switched off the power. Hailey led the way into the basement, guiding them through a warren of underground passageways, and as they emerged into the cool night breeze, Olivia lifted her visor and inhaled deeply before sliding it back down with a _click_.

_Showtime._

“Hailey,” she asked, “do you want to pick a song?”

“Yeah,” Hailey answered, shifting from one leg to the other, glider rising into the air. “Just give me a minute…”

_My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard/And they’re like/It’s better than yours…_

There was a chorus of groans. “Play something else,” Max complained.

“Shut _up_ , it’s good.”


	7. In which Penny asks a harmless question

Penny furrowed her brow and glanced at her friends. “What?”

Ned looked down, as did Eugene, but MJ didn’t. All three of them were blushing.

“You look nice,” MJ managed, wide-eyed. It was the first time that Penny had seen the other girl at a loss for words. “Where’s… what happened?”

“Oh.” Penny reddened. “I… I went to Warehouse Six on Friday night to attend Max Dillon’s birthday party. They invited me.”

“ _What?_ ” Eugene shrieked.

“Hey,” someone called, “can it, Flash!”

“How was it?” Eugene hissed, leaning forwards. “Were there rivers of champagne? Did Sandy Baker give anyone a lap-dance? Did -”

“It was just a club,” Penny gabbled. “I mean… there were a lot of people, and they were all drinking, and everyone wished Max a happy birthday. That’s about it.” She looked down at her tray. “There was cake, though.” She’d fallen asleep before they’d started passing it around, though, which was a shame.

That morning, she’d approached Hailey and asked if she could have her spectacles back, and the other girl had promised that she’d look for them. Apart from that, nothing much had changed. She’d dressed in the same old stuff that she usually wore, and although she wasn’t wearing her spectacles, no one had commented on her new look. Sandy had been visibly (and vocally) disappointed, though. “You ought to wear the stuff that Hailey bought for you,” she’d complained. “Clothes are made to be worn.”

“Anyway,” Penny continued, “I got grounded, so I won’t be able to go out for dinner with you guys anymore.”

“Oh, that _sucks_.” MJ winced. “I won’t be able to go out with you guys anymore, either.”

“What?” Ned bleated. His face had gone white, and his chins wobbled as he shook his head uncomprehendingly. “Hey, no, MJ, don’t do this. If it’s just me and Eugene, it’ll be pathetic as hell. It’d be great to have you around, even if Penny’s not there…”

“You and Eugene have been eating together since last year,” MJ retorted, smirking. “I think you’ll be able to manage. Anyway, I’ve got a _ton_ of stuff to catch up on. Need to keep my GPA up.” She stood up, winked at Penny, and turned to leave. “Catch you around.”

\-----

“I’ve come up with a schedule,” Hailey announced.

Max groaned, eyes still fixed on her phone, and Hailey resisted the urge to bat that useless hunk of plastic out of the other girl’s hand. Although she could tell that all of them were paying attention, such a blatant display of disrespect still rankled. _Yeah, yeah, yeah_ , she thought, disgruntled. _It means that they’re comfortable around me, I know, I know… but would it kill them to show a little poise?_ She shifted in her seat, mouth twitching irritably, and regained control of her train of thought. “Okay, so: did it ever occur to any of you that none of our birthdays fall on the same month?”

“No.”

“Thank you for replying to me, Olivia.” Hailey interlaced her fingers. “So! I’ve thought about it, right, and I think we can use the warehouse to host one party per month. We’ll be throwing one party on each of your birthdays, and in January, July, September, October, November and December, we can throw themed parties. New Year's, Independence Day, Homecoming, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Isn’t it a good idea?”

No one responded.

“Hel _lo_?”

Liz yawned. “Sorry. I’m still a little tired from last weekend.”

“Same.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Yup.”

“Agreed.”

 _Even you, Edie?_ Hailey squinted. _Traitor_. “Okay, _fine_. Moving on. As befitting my position as Class President, Principal Morita has made clear that I am to arrange _outings_ for the _student body_.”

“Oh, no. Don’t hold them in the warehouse.” Max had set down her phone - _at last_ \- and was staring at Hailey, eyes wide with terror. “We’d have to disinfect the whole place for Zach Cooper alone.”

“Point. I was thinking of holding them at 404 NYC.” It wasn’t exactly a hot venue, to be sure, but Hailey didn’t intend for her class outings to be _super_ -trendy.

“ _What?_ ” Edie blurted. “No, H. My father would never agree. You’d have to settle the bookings _months_ in advance -”

“Good thing it’s only March.” Hailey looked down, lined her utensils up on her tray, and wiped her hands with quick, precise strokes. As she glanced, casually, to the side, she caught her boyfriend’s gaze and held it. "Anyway," Edie was saying, "the earliest date on which you could hold a function would be, like, August.”

“I was thinking mid-July, actually. For an Independence Day party - er, _outing_. There won’t be any alcohol, so it’ll be cheaper. I think.” Hailey shrugged. “I was thinking, right, that if the two of us leaned on Mr Brock for long enough, he might allow us to cut the queue a little. If you know what I mean.”

“Ask your dad to lean on my dad,” Edie retorted. “You know how he gets.”

“Hey, H,” Brad rumbled, looming over her shoulder, and Hailey leaned into him, smiling, the very picture of an affectionate girlfriend. “Ready for class?” Leaning forwards, he grabbed her tray and loaded it on top of his own. “I’ll take care of this for you.”

“Thanks, Brad.” Ignoring Max’s exaggerated gagging noises, Hailey tilted her head up and allowed him to peck her chastely on the lips. As her boyfriend waded away, cutting a path through the crowd of students, Hailey turned back to her clique and rolled her eyes. “Boys, am I right?”

She was met with a wall of silence.

“He’s sweet,” Edie volunteered.

\-----

When Penny got home, May and Ben were waiting for her to eat with them. They were talkative, as usual, and went on and on about what they'd done at work. Occasionally, they'd try to ask her about how her own day had gone, but Penny would only respond monosyllabically, and they gave up after a while. Once the dishes had all been taken care of, she headed up to her room and locked the door. She knew she was sulking, but she didn’t care.

Her room was still a mess. If anything, it was even messier than before, since she hadn't unwrapped the clothes which Hailey had bought for her. The bags in which they’d been stored were still strewn across the floor. Penny had considered hanging them up in her wardrobe, just because she could, but she’d calmed down after a while and decided against it.

Her phone buzzed.

 _MJ:_ hi

 _Penny:_ hi

Penny clutched her phone to her chest, threw herself onto her bed, and wriggled about like a caterpillar.

 _MJ:_ so ru at home now

 _Penny:_ yeah

 _MJ:_ sucks 2 b u

 _Penny:_ yeah

 _MJ:_ so i had an idea

 _MJ:_ what if

 _MJ:_ you snuck out after your aunt and uncle went to sleep

Penny blinked.

 _Penny:_???

 _Penny:_ wut would i do

 _MJ:_ idk

 _MJ:_ walk around?

 _MJ:_ u can clearly defend urself w/o help lol

 _Penny:_ lol

Penny stared at her phone and buried her face in her hands. _You're hopeless at this_ , she thought.

 _MJ:_ or like

 _MJ:_ save ppl from muggings or sth

 _Penny:_ uh maybe

A few minutes passed.

 _MJ:_ ok better idea

 _MJ:_ so ur aunt n uncle said tt u must come home 4 dinner everyday

 _MJ:_ but they didnt say u had to come home ALONE

Penny's cheeks were starting to feel awfully warm.

 _Penny:_ wdym

 _MJ:_ invite me over lol

 _MJ:_ for dinner

 _MJ:_ or like me n ned n eugene

 _MJ:_ or something

 _MJ:_ lol

Penny went into her bathroom and splashed some water on her face. When she came back, MJ had sent her another message.

 _MJ:_ ok… guess not

 _Penny_ : nonono

 _Penny:_ its a good idea!!!!!

 _Penny:_ when do u want to come over

 _MJ:_ idk

 _MJ:_ tomorrow?

Penny rolled onto her stomach and screamed into her pillow.

\-----

“We found your spectacles,” Hailey declared, a little more grandly than was warranted, and pressed Parker’s spectacles into her hand.

“Oh.” Parker looked down at her spectacles, briefly, and set them down beside her tray. “Thank you. It… um… it means a lot to me.”

 _Yeah, right_ , Max thought. _If it’d really meant that much to you, you wouldn’t have allowed Sandy to just pluck it off your face._ “Don’t worry about it,” she cut in, airily, and waved a hand. “Y'know, you look better without spectacles.”

“No one asked, Max.”

Liz coughed loudly. “Have you decided which club you’d like to join?”

Parker shook her head, eyes wide. “I know there are clubs, but… um… I’m not really sure if I want to join one.” That was a good course of action, in Max’s opinion. Apart from the STEM Club and the Publicity Department, none of the other clubs at Midtown High were worth joining. Not even the cheerleading team, if she was being honest. As she looked up from her muffin, Edie straightened up, taking a deep breath, and Max groaned under her breath. _Oh, boy. Here comes another lecture._

“Now, it’s not compulsory to join one extra-curricular club or another, but it’d be good for your chances at getting into the college of your choice. Do you know which clubs we’re in?” Edie paused, eyes flitting over Parker’s face, and nodded to herself. “Yes, so, basically, these clubs are the best-funded at Midtown High, mostly because we keep the school’s name out there. The STEM Club, in particular, sweeps the podium at the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium every year. Publicity advertises and organizes public performances.” She paused before attempting to justify the existence of the cheerleading team, a flat, neutral look on her face which Max interpreted as near-panic.

Fortunately, Sandy jumped to the rescue just in time. “We keep the city’s eyes on Midtown!”

_Whatever **that** means._

“Right,” Edie blurted, relieved. “That.” She turned back to Parker. “Of course, you don’t have to limit yourself to these three clubs. It’s entirely up to you. There are other clubs. We’d be really happy if you joined, though. Any club would be honoured to count you as a member, seriously.” She paused. “Of course, you’ve got to get through the tryouts first, but…”

“I guess I’ll think about it.”

“Please do,” Liz pleaded. “Like, your History grade is one thing, but you’d be a stellar addition to the STEM Club. You wouldn’t believe how exhausting it’s been for me and Liv. Like, we’ve been carrying the whole team, I swear.”

Parker flushed, and Max - having given up on the conversation entirely - pulled out her phone. The little battery-bar on its screen started to twitch, and a steady, barely-there hum began to radiate from her fingers as she drained its charge and replenished it, drained and replenished, drained and replenished…

“Incidentally,” Parker began, in a tone that sounded distinctly un-casual, “do you know which club MJ is in?”

Max’s phone sparked, and Parker jerked. “Her phone does that sometimes,” Liz explained, quickly, and Max nodded in agreement. “It’s really old.”

“I don’t know why I’m still using it, honestly. Sentiment, I guess.”

 _max:_ OMG

 _sandy:_ OMG

 _edie:_ can u stop looking at ur phones?? this is big

“She’s on Acad-Decath,” Olivia told Parker. “That’s short for _Academic Decathlon_. It’s a branch of the STEM Club. Liz runs it.” She turned to look at Liz, raising an eyebrow, and paused as Hailey stood up. “Actually, never mind. We’ll tell you all about it on the way to class.”

\-----

“ _No_ , that’s not how Sandy looks like. Her -”

“Just say it,” MJ dared.

“She’s not that big. In the. Um. Chest.”

“You like it, though, don’t you?”

“Of course not,” Penny retorted, loyally, and MJ snickered before putting the finishing touches on her little sketch. Penny had been watching her draw for the past half-hour, and - oh, no. “Uh, MJ?”

“What?”

“It’s -”

“Hey, are you lovebirds gonna get a move on or what?” Mr Lee wheezed. Penny wasn’t sure how old he was, but he was definitely too old to be working as a janitor at a high school. As they stared at him, he hunched his shoulders defensively and resumed his slow, tortoise-like trundle. “I’m coming back in five minutes, and you’d better be gone by then, or I’m calling the Principal.”

“Yeah,” Penny finished. “Yeah. It’s a… um… it’s a little late. I’ve got five missed calls from my aunt and uncle.”

“We’d better get a move on, then.”

They split the cost of the taxi ride home. Every time their driver rounded a corner, Penny’s heart sank further. It wasn’t that she was afraid of Ben and May, but… what would they think? She hadn’t… she’d had that crush on Harry Morris last year, true, but that didn’t mean… she was going to be late. What if they didn’t like MJ?

“What?”

Penny looked up.

“If they don’t like me, then they don’t like me.” MJ shrugged. “Not much that I can do about it. Screw ‘em.”

“They practically raised me,” Penny managed, a little weakly. For some reason, the thought of someone insulting Ben and May enraged her somewhat less than it would otherwise have.

“Yeah, but I don’t even know what they look like, so I’m not as attached.” MJ took a drag from her Juul and glared at the driver, as if daring him to tell her to stop. “Besides, they grounded you.”

When they finally arrived, Penny hung around, trying to rustle up the courage to face the music, and stared as MJ marched up to the door and knocked smartly against the wood. The door creaked open, and as Ben stared out at the two of them, a forbidding expression on his face, she swallowed.

“Oh, you must be MJ.”

“Hi, Mr Parker!”

“Do come in! How nice it is to meet you. We’ve set the table already. Just go to the last door down the hall and take a right.”

(Was she _smiling_?)

As MJ headed indoors, Ben transferred his gaze to Penny, and as his eyes bored into her soul, she broke and stared at the pavement. “You’re late. It’s barely been a fortnight since your escapade -”

“I’m _sorry_ ,” Penny muttered.

Ben pressed his lips together and took a few steps back. As he waited, expectantly, beside the door, Penny bit her lip and walked through.


	8. In which Penny comes out (1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm pretty sure no one's done this before.

“So,” MJ began, breaking the silence for the first time in half an hour, “that went well.”

Penny nodded mutely.

“Say something, doofus.”

“Sorry.” Penny tilted her head back, the bones in her neck creaking, and groaned at the ceiling. “I’m just… I’m still mad at them.” She knew that they were justified in grounding her, but that didn’t mean she had to _like_ it. “It _did_ go well, though.” She turned, looked at MJ, and smiled, heart fluttering as the other girl reddened. “I mean, I didn’t even think they’d let me leave the house at night, and yet… here we are.”

“They don’t seem like nasty people.”

Penny bit her lip. “They’re not.”

They emerged from the train station and began to walk back to MJ’s house. The moon was full and round, and as the breeze tickled Penny’s nose, she smelled new-mown grass and damp earth. _Spring has sprung_. “You know,” she began, “I’m thinking of joining the Academic Decathlon team.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, really.” Penny looked down at her feet. “How’s Liz? As a leader, I mean.”

“She uses a _ton_ of spreadsheets.” MJ twiddled her thumbs. “She’s got really high standards. On the other hand, we get a discount when it comes to Olivia Octavius’ notes, so there’s that.” She sounded smug. “My grades haven’t slipped below a B since the school year started.”

“Oh.”

“Ned and Eugene will be _thrilled_ if you join the team, by the way,” MJ added, dryly, and cleared her throat. “It’d give them someone new to stare at. The last time Liz caught them staring at her butt, she had Harrington put them in detention for three weeks.” She paused. “Oh, yeah. Mr Harrington is technically in charge of the team, but he doesn’t really do anything. Liz technically does his job when it comes to us.”

They walked in silence for a few minutes.

“You know, you never told me what your Tumblr handle was.”

“Oh my _god_ ,” MJ groused, turning away, and Penny smiled in spite of herself. “How do you still remember that? I dropped that little tidbit _ages_ ago.”

“I’ve got a good memory.”

“I didn’t even know you had a Tumblr account.” MJ squinted at her suspiciously, and Penny wondered how she was going to explain that she’d set up her Tumblr account solely for the purpose of following the other girl without coming off as a weirdo. “Yeah,” she tried, mind churning, and knotted her fingers together. “I, um, I’ve had it for a while, but I only just got back into it. And then I remembered that you had a Tumblr account, so. How about it?”

“Let me see,” MJ muttered, and Penny handed her phone over, the hairs on the back of her neck rising as she felt MJ’s warm breath ghost over her hand. “Oh, you don’t reblog anything. What sort of a handle is _laspider0810_?”

“Uh, it’s because I grew up in LA. And I was born on the tenth of August.” Penny felt her face heat up. “And I like spiders.”

“Oh.” MJ navigated to her account, tapped the _Follow_ button, and returned Penny her phone. “There.”

Both of them fell silent for a while, staring at each other, and it was MJ who ended the moment. “I’ll just… uh… thanks for accompanying me home.” Hastily, she ran up the steps and opened the door. It closed behind her with a _click_.

Penny stared.

The door opened, and MJ poked her head out. “Goodnight!”

“Goodnight!”

She grinned like an idiot all the way home.

\-----

"Am I boring you, Ms Baker?"

As Olivia trod on her foot viciously, Sandy blinked, cleared her throat, and shook her head rapidly, ponytail bouncing. "No, Mr Osborn," she chirped.

Mr Osborn grunted suspiciously, looked down at his desk, and rearranged his papers. While he was distracted, Sandy glanced around, taking in the portraits, the busts and the books, swinging her legs back and forth as though she was half her age, and ratcheted back into serious mode as Mr Osborn returned his attention to the four girls sitting in front of him. "As I was saying, given the justifications that I listed previously, a fee of one-hundred-twenty thousand dollars will be paid out to you in monthly instalments over a period of twelve months. The payments will be made in cash. Hailey will handle the details."

There was an expectant pause.

"Thank you, Mr Osborn," they chorused.

Hailey and Edie were waiting for them outside, and as Mr Osborn headed downstairs to his “work office” (as opposed to the room which they had just been in, which was his “home office”), they made their way down to Hailey’s second kitchen for breakfast.

(Sandy didn’t really get hungry, but she’d never been able to say no to food. The others envied her, since she could eat as much as she wanted and never gain any weight. Sandy liked being envied.)

“Okay,” Hailey began, clasping her hands together and perching herself on top of one of the stools. “First order of business. We need to get Parker and Jones together. They’re so in love it makes me physically unwell.” She was in full matchmaker-mode, now, and it was all that Sandy could do not to crack up at the sight. “Olivia, can you switch up their schedules and put them in the same classes?” She paused. “And remove us from said classes? I don’t want to see them being disgusting.”

“It’s already done,” Olivia said, mildly, and drained her cup of coffee.

“Excellent.” Hailey turned to Liz. “Liz, if Parker decides to join Acad-Decath - and I think she will - I’d like it very much if you could seat them beside each other as often as possible.”

“Oh, I can definitely do that.”

“Max, have you prepared the guest-list for this month’s party?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Yeah, thought not. Insert the two of them. Provisionally. Parker’s still grounded, isn’t she?” Hailey narrowed her eyes. “Who do her guardians work for?”

Olivia tapped at her phone. “Stark Industries.”

“Oh.” Hailey sagged, momentarily, and sawed viciously at her toast. “If we work on her a little bit more, she’ll probably be willing to sneak out. Eh, we’ll see.”

They moved on to other things shortly after, and when Sandy had eaten her fill, she said goodbye to her friends and left Hailey’s penthouse. There were a few lifts that serviced the uppermost floors of Oscorp Tower, and she hopped on one of them, riding it all the way to the bottom. She knew that they’d start gossipping about her the second she left the room; for some reason, though, it’d never irked her. Sandy liked being talked about.

She cut a fine figure as she strutted through the crowd. Tall, blonde and svelte, she attracted more than her fair share of stares, which was good, because Sandy loved being looked at. (Sandy was very easily pleased.) Whenever she was feeling down, she’d doll herself up and go down to the beach to sunbathe. It was usually her go-to pick-me-up, but since the weather was so terrible lately, she’d had to settle for this. It wasn’t as fun as the beach, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

Mom was waiting as she waltzed through the door, and Sandy exchanged a brief hug with her before plopping herself down behind a nearby table and pulling off her hair-tie. “Coffee?”

“Yup!”

They owed a lot to the Osborns. After her father had been locked away, Mom had been worried that they’d run out of money, but Mr Osborn had stepped in at the last minute and offered her a waitressing job at a restaurant at Oscorp Tower. The old owner had passed away last year, and Mom had taken over. They weren’t rich, but they could easily afford the rent, since Sandy was a friend of Hailey’s, and that was all that really mattered, anyway. If it hadn’t been for Mr Osborn, therefore, they’d be out on the streets by now.

Of course, it helped that Sandy liked Hailey, but even if she didn’t, she’d still be working for her regardless. Her father had worked for the Osborns since he was a teenager, and now Mom was working for them too, and Sandy would work for Hailey for as long as she needed. It was just the way things were.

“Why do you always sit there?” Mom asked.

“Advertising.”

“Oh, shrink that head of yours.”

Sandy sat by the window, sipping from her cup of coffee, and stared at her phone for a few hours. Her notebooks sat in front of her, opened to a random page, but she’d never been able to focus on them for long; there was just so much else to do, and anyway, Olivia would help her out if her grades needed saving. As she hummed to herself, a family of four walked through the door, and Sandy smiled to herself as one of them - a boy her age - snuck a peek at her when he thought she wasn’t looking.

When Mom came over to refill her cup, she looked up and winked. “See? Advertising.”

Mom shook her head.

\-----

“- and _this_ is my boyfriend,” Hailey trilled. "I thought I’d formally introduce the two of you. I think you met at Max’s party, but -"

"Yeah, we didn't talk much." Brad Davis finished, gazing down at Hailey fondly. Turning to face Penny, he extended a hand and flashed a movie-star smile. "Hey. Nice to meet you."

Penny took it. “Nice to meet you.”

She hadn’t had much of a chance to talk to Hailey’s boyfriend, mostly because he was one year older than her, but MJ didn’t really have a very good opinion of him, and Ned… well, Ned _hated_ him. _He had a weird, age-inappropriate crush on me in elementary school_ , MJ had told her, once, when she'd walked her home before she'd gotten grounded, and Penny kept that in mind as she stared into his calm, pleasant eyes.

“Alright,” Hailey sighed. “Now, you two know each other. Go on, Brad. Shoo. Shoo.” She patted his (very nice) ass while he was walking away, smirking cheekily, and Penny found herself exchanging an exasperated look with Edie. “You know, Penny, are there any boys that you like at Midtown High?”

Penny blinked. “Uh…”

“Okay, never mind.” Liz leaned forwards. “It’s been a week. Do you want to join the Academic Decathlon team?”

Penny gaped, taken aback by her bluntness, and noticed that the other five girls were pressing in on her. Her danger-sense flared, a dull throb in the back of her head, but the warmth of their attention was more pertinent - and more embarrassing. “Um,” she babbled, casting about for an answer, “yes?”

“I _knew_ it,” Hailey crowed, fist-pumping, and Penny blinked, confused. “Okay, Penny, here’s the thing. I like to indulge in a little light matchmaking, you see, but I can’t move on if you aren’t willing to acknowledge the attraction.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “So. You can tell us. No judgment. You’re gay, aren’t you?”

Penny almost spat out her water, but restrained herself at the last second. Her danger-sense was spiking, and as she moistened her lips, thinking furiously, the first thought that flitted across her overheated brain was _They really **are** dangerous_. Hailey was muttering with Sandy, engaged in what sounded like an intimate conversation, and when she ricocheted back to Penny, her eyes were glittering. “Hey, Penny, if you’re gay, there’s nothing to worry about. Plenty of people here are queer, you know. Why, Sandy -” she glanced at Sandy, who grinned and gave a thumbs-up - “Sandy wasn’t even born like this.”

“Shouldn’t you be asking MJ whether she’s gay or not?” Penny managed.

That brought Hailey to a halt, leaving Penny a modicum of space to process the revelations that had been dumped on her in the past few seconds. “We don’t know for sure,” she began, slowly, “do we? Wow. Wow, this is new. I’ve never been in this situation before.”

“Probably because you tend to assume that most people are straight,” Olivia muttered.

“Shut up, Liv.” Hailey twisted her lips, eyes bright. “Well, we’ll just have to take a leap of faith, eh?” Her face turned serious, shifting gears in a matter of seconds. “It doesn’t matter if you’re gay, honestly. Or bi! We’ve all experimented before. Right, Edie?”

Edie buried her face in her hands, and Hailey turned back to Penny, grinning. “If you wanna get together with Jones, just say the word.”

Penny closed her eyes.

Why was she panicking over this, anyway? This was _New York_ , not Tennessee or West Virginia.

“I’d rather do it myself,” she managed.

“Oh, you will,” Edie interrupted. “We’ll just give things a little push. Nudge things along. We’ve been doing this since last year, you know. You’re in good hands.” She rolled her eyes, gesturing at Hailey. “Don’t worry if she seems to be a little hyper; she loves playing the matchmaker.”

“Nothing like young love,” Hailey sighed, staring into the distance.

Liz leaned over. “Look, you don’t have to say anything. After school, come and see me. We’ll have a quick little trial for you, and once you pass, you’ll be in. Easy.” Her eyes turned wicked, and Penny shivered. “And once you’re in, we’ll find a way for you and MJ to be alone together as often as possible.”

This was getting to be a little overwhelming.

“Don’t worry,” Sandy murmured, placing one soft hand over Penny’s. Her smile reminded Penny of the Los Angeles sun, warm and soothing, and she found herself smiling back at the other girl. _Wow_ , she thought. _Stop, Penny. You’re being disloyal._ “You’re not out to your folks yet, are you?”

Penny shook her head.

“Don’t worry about it. If you ever need anything, just give us a shout.”

 _Dangerous_ , Penny thought. _Truly, truly dangerous._


	9. In which Penny joins the Academic Decathlon team

MJ was the first to leave the table, as always, but this time, when she left, Ned leaned over. “Shoot your shot, dude,” he hissed, giving Penny an exuberant thumbs-up, and Eugene echoed his sentiment enthusiastically. Penny glanced between the two of them, brows furrowed, and Ned shook his head. “Dude, _everyone_ knows,” he whispered. “You’re kinda obvious about it.”

Was she? Penny glanced around, worried. Was it just her, or were people looking at her different? Had Hailey’s clique spread the news far and wide? She didn’t want to be treated differently just because she liked girls as well as boys.

“Don’t worry,” Eugene muttered. “Hey, if you need clothes or anything, just hit me up. I can pimp you out, FOC. That’s _free-of-charge_.”

Ned walloped him on the shoulder. “Dude, don’t say that.”

“ _What?_ ‘Free-of-charge’?”

“No! The p-word.”

“Oh.” Eugene blanched. “ _Anyway_ , we’re going to be on the same team, so don’t worry, Penny.” He gave her another thumbs-up. “We’ll give the two of you a very, very wide berth.”

Penny buried her head in her hands.

\-----

Today was a special day, which was why Sandy was with Mom and not at the warehouse. They worked in silence, the two of them, and when Sandy’s soap-soaked fingers slipped and sent their frying pan crashing to the floor for the fifth time, Mom paused. Sandy didn’t meet her gaze.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Sandy muttered. She wiped her hands on her jeans, made a small, horrified noise, and grabbed a towel to soak up the soapsuds. _Oh, no… I’d better not ruin my jeans._

“He understands,” Mom murmured. “You know that, right?”

Sandy bit her lip, eyes suddenly overflowing, and planted a hand on a nearby sink to steady herself. “You don’t know that for sure,” she choked, eyes fixed on her sneakers. “He could just be _saying_ that. He hasn’t seen me yet. When he sees me…” She swallowed. “That’s when he’ll know for sure.”

Mom sighed, picked up the frying pan, and gave it a final rinse. “He swore to me that it wouldn’t change anything. You’re still his child, and he’s still your father. Don’t worry, okay?” She reached out, smiling, and poked Sandy’s nose playfully. “Cheer up.”

They drove down to Rikers Island in silence. There was a car-park just outside the main gate, and as Mom removed her keys from the ignition, she turned to Sandy and clutched her hand tightly. “Don’t worry. Really.” She paused, glancing out the window, and continued. “ _If_ \- and that’s a very big _if_ \- _if_ he changes his mind, you needn’t be worried at all. The only thing he can do is knock heads together, Sandy. He’s never held a steady job in his life. As for us…” Her smile hardened. “I’m the one with the car. I’m the one paying the bills. If he doesn’t like it, he can move out. We don’t need him anymore. _I_ don’t need him anymore.”

It didn’t make Sandy feel any better, but she opened the car door and followed her mother to the front gate. It towered over both of them, a monstrous, massive thing, and Sandy stared up at it, at this structure that had held her father for so long. It wasn’t a structure, really; it was a system. It was a system, and Sandy didn’t really like it very much. _I could be taller than you if I wanted_ , she thought, attempting to distract herself. _If I wanted, I could batter a hole in your walls and help the men inside escape. I could if I wanted to. I could._ She looked down at her hands, clasped tightly together, and felt them vibrate -

The gates were opening.

Sandy stopped, her heart in her throat, and waited.

There was a single silhouette walking through the gates. They had opened just a hair - just enough to allow him to pass through - and he was holding a single cardboard box in his thick, muscled arms. (Sandy remembered his arms the most.) Mom was running forwards, her dress flapping in the wind, hurtling towards her father, and as she closed in on him, he dropped his box and wrapped his arms around her. As Sandy watched, he lifted her up and spun her around, the two of them clinging to each other for dear life.

Sandy took one step forward, and then another.

“Mandy?”

Sandy’s stomach dropped, and her mother’s face shuttered. “Floyd…”

Her father raised his hands in surrender, dismayed. “I’m sorry, Lois. You know how it is. I forget.” He turned to Sandy, smiling nervously, and took a step towards her. “Look, your mother told me everything. There's nothing to be worried about. It’s Candy, right?”

Sandy swallowed and shook her head.

“Okay. Okay. Well, you know what? It doesn’t matter what your name is. You’re my daughter. Nothing’s gonna change that.”

Sandy bit her lip. “It’s Wendy,” she croaked.

“Wendy,” her father repeated, rolling her name around in his mouth, and looked her up and down. “Wendy Baker. It’s a beautiful name, and I’ve got a beautiful daughter.” He spread his arms. “Now, come over here and give your old man a hug, why don’t you?”

Sandy dove into his arms, breathing heavily, and finally allowed the tears to flow. “I missed you, Daddy.”

“Hey, hey, hey.” Her father patted her comfortingly on her back, and Sandy relaxed for the first time in what felt like ages. He smelled like smoke, sweat and cement, the scents of her youth, and she could feel his heart beating beneath his muscled chest. Nothing compared to being hugged by her father. It made her feel warm, protected… _loved_. “It’s okay. I’m here. Mr Osborn will take care of us. I’m not going to be going back to jail anymore. Not if I can help it.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

Her father affected a serious expression. “Scout’s honour.”

\-----

“Okay,” Liz said. “Let’s take a short break. Flash, Leeds, if I see the two of you staring in my direction, I’m going to make you wish you were never born.” She tossed back a gulp of water, drumming her fingers on the table, and leaned back.

Training sessions for the Academic Decathlon team were fairly standard. Liz would rope a random freshman from the greater STEM Club to ask them questions, and they’d just go at it for an hour before taking a five-minute break. After around two hours of this, Liz would call for a halt and hold a post-training debriefing, during which she’d go over their mistakes and give them a list of topics to study until the next session.

Liz had assigned them specific fields to focus on. Her own specialty was physics and engineering, while Ned’s was computing. MJ specialized in history and politics. As for Eugene, well… Eugene was an all-rounder, but he tended to prioritize speed over accuracy. For that reason, he was - apparently - dangerously close to being benched. “You might well be an all-rounder, too,” Liz had told her, after her first few sessions. “Just don’t be like Flash. That’s all I ask for.”

As MJ headed to the toilet, Penny shuffled her cards, going over them in her head, and blinked as someone tapped her on the shoulder. “Hey,” Cindy Moon whispered. “C’mere. Sally wants to ask you a question.”

Sally Avril sat at Liz’s elbow, and as Penny sat down, Liz looked up and grinned. “It’s good to have another girl on the team,” she murmured. “Five girls, four guys - it’s a narrow majority. I like it.” She raised an eyebrow. “Also, MJ keeps to herself _way_ too much. It’d be good to have another girl whom the three of us can chat with.”

Sally nodded fervently. “She’s never gone out of her way to talk to us,” she remarked, mournfully, and fiddled with her brown locks. “She’s a nice girl, though. Heart’s in the right place. I’m glad that she found you. Or, y’know, that the two of you found each other.”

Penny reddened.

“ _Hwaiting!_ ” Cindy whispered.

\-----

“- and then she was like, _I can’t believe you said that_ -”

Edie rolled her eyes, and Hailey nudged her, eyes dancing. “Hey, Brock,” she murmured. “Play nice.”

 _Right back at you_ , Edie thought. As a waiter ambled by, she leaned over and snagged another pair of champagne flutes for herself and Hailey before easing herself back into the flow of things. Right here, right now, “the flow of things” meant pretending to pay attention to Amy Zorick as she went on and on about some inconsequential Hollywood drama. Neither she nor Hailey enjoyed these functions, but they understood why they were necessary.

As Edie’s nose twitched from the sheer cacophony of scents swirling around her, she tightened her grip on her flute and drained it in one gulp. _I will crack open their bones and feast on their marrow_ , Biter snarled, ripping under her skin, and Edie tilted her head, the buzz fizzling out as her gooey headmate metabolized the alcohol.

_Yeah, yeah, yeah. You and me both._

There were a dozen conversations going on around her at the same time, and most of them were meaningless gossip. That wasn’t to say that gossip was inherently meaningless, of course, but Edie found herself bored by these people, all the same. Sighing softly, she tipped her head back and stared up at the ceiling as it soared above their heads.

“- you think, Edith - uh, _Edie_?”

Hailey nudged her again. “Stanley asked you a question.”

“Sorry,” Edie replied, dipping her head apologetically. “Kinda spaced out. What did you say?”

Stanley - a cousin of Hailey’s - adjusted his bowtie, Adam’s apple bobbing. “Er, I was wondering what you thought about the Stark acquisition.”

“Oh, um… I guess it’s a good thing that they’re paying us back for what happened at the Expo.” Edie swilled her champagne idly, watching with interest as Stanley’s eyes slipped downwards, zeroing in obsessively on her bare shoulders, and took a sip. “As long as they obey the law, of course.”

“Yeah, sure,” Hailey muttered, dismissively, and chuckled. Amy Zorick laughed, too, loudly and nasally, and Biter churned agitatedly behind her eyes at the sound. _I will pluck out her eyes first_ , he snarled.

As their laughter faded, Sarah - another Osborn cousin - moved the conversation to other things, obligingly, and Edie, her patience having run out, allowed her attention to stray. If she focused a little bit more, she could make out what the other people around her were talking about. Most of them were gossipping, but there were a few genuinely interesting conversations going on, and Edie zoomed in on them.

_\- reconstruction of Harlem proceeding apace. There’s nothing left to do save the most basic finishing touches, and it should be done by next year -_

_\- damn shame, Obadiah was a decent chap; for all that Stark might strut around in his glorified titanium pacifier, he’ll never be as respected as Obadiah was -_

_\- Fisk’s acquisition of damaged housing is reckless, but with Silver & Brent on his side, he can do what he likes -_

_\- Rand Corporation prides itself on delivering stellar returns to its shareholders -_

_\- it’s an eyesore, but these men… oh, you know how they are. Stark Tower, Oscorp Tower… phallic symbols, each and every one of them -_

Edie returned to herself just in time to catch Hailey slipping away with Richard Fisk. “Oh my _god_ ,” Amy whisper-shrieked, giggling to herself, and Edie resisted the urge to inch away. _She smells_ , Biter sneered, crackling at the edge of her vision. “Did she really - I can’t even -”

“He’s quite handsome,” Alton Jr. commented, lightly, and Edie raised an eyebrow at him. Like his siblings, Sarah and Stanley, he had the signature Osborn look. Hailey tended to surround herself with her cousins when she attended such functions, and Edie couldn’t blame her. Blood was thicker than water, after all. _God, I wish I had siblings._ “Isn’t he married?”

“Yes,” Edie concurred, measuredly. “He’s also around a decade older than her. They just welcomed their first child.” _Hailey also has a boyfriend, as I’m sure you all know, but she’s not that attached to him._ To be frank, she didn’t think much of Brad Davis. He was rich, sure, but compared to herself and Hailey, he wasn’t worth much at all, and although they were fetching enough, there wasn’t much going on behind those large, dark eyes of his.

“Ooh, _spicy_. I wonder what the Mayor would think…” Amy bit her lip and stared into the distance, squinting over Edie’s shoulder. “What the hell? They’re just _talking_. This is boring.”

 _She talks too much,_ Biter spat.

_I agree._

\-----

“That was a nice talk you were having with Richard Fisk,” Brad murmured, tightly, as he spun her around the ballroom floor, and Hailey rolled her eyes. “I know how you feel about me, and you know how I feel about you, but this sort of thing -”

“We were just _talking_ ,” Hailey retorted. “Do you think Norman Osborn would allow himself to be seen in public speaking to Wilson Fisk? Or - god forbid - with Wilson Fisk’s _son_? I was merely communicating a message.” It didn’t hurt that Richard Fisk was a hunk, though.

“Regardless of whether that’s true, you’ve garnered a minor scandal of your own.” Brad paused as the music came to a halt, intertwining his hand with hers, and guided her through the crowd. “You’re going to have to spend some time with me if you want people to stop whispering about you.”

“Oh, I can do that.”


	10. In which Penny comes out (2)

“So, you work for Stark Industries?”

“Ah, yes.” Ben chewed, swallowed, and set his fork down carefully. “I work in the HR department. We’re restructuring, you see. Stark Industries hasn’t really _focused_ on the Mid-Atlantic states since Howard Stark passed away, which is why we’ve begun to reinvest in New York in a big way. In keeping with our new mission statement and philosophy, of course.”

“Cool,” MJ said. “No, yeah, it’s good that you’re doing that. Stark Industries has exported more than enough death and destruction to the rest of the world to fill several lifetimes. It’s about time you started making amends.”

There was an awkward silence.

Penny hadn’t _genuinely_ spoken to Ben and May in some time, but as the silence stretched, the growing tension finally spurred her into blurting out a complete sentence in their presence for the first time in a month. “So, uh, May, what do you do?”

“Oh, well, I’m still in Marketing, Penny.” May interlaced her fingers, carefully avoiding MJ’s gaze, and took a sip of water. “I’ve been doing it for a while, and like Ben, I’ve risen quite high. We’re… we’re comfortable. It’s a good job. Very fulfilling.”

“Isn’t Virginia Potts the CEO?”

“Yes,” May replied, a little testily. “Yes, she’s the CEO.”

“I’ve always wondered whether that transition was aimed at appeasing the growing demographics of white women who consider themselves to be feminists -”

“I’m done, May!” Penny blurted, jumping to her feet, and hurried into the kitchen with her plate. “Do you mind if I, uh, show MJ around the house? I don’t think she’s seen my room yet!”

“You should clean it up,” May retorted, and followed her into the kitchen. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing,” she continued, dropping her voice, and helped Penny to wash her utensils. “This - this _MJ_ \- she’s quite the firecracker, isn’t she?”

“Um, yeah.”

“Reminds me of your mother. She was always going on about this cause or that. She was an idealist.” May’s smile turned fond, and then sad. “Bring her upstairs before she gives your uncle an aneurysm.”

Penny did so.

As they entered her room, Penny slid the door shut behind her and reddened as MJ tilted her head at her curiously. “Why’d you close the door?” she asked. “Is there something you want to show me that you don’t want your aunt and uncle to see?” She turned back to Penny’s desk, glancing around, and plucked up one of the rudimentary devices that she’d been tinkering with in her spare time. “What’s this?”

“Nothing,” Penny blurted, snatching the device out of MJ’s hands as a small sliver of white, sticky fluid dribbled out onto her palm, and flung it into the back of her cupboard. “No, uh, I closed the door ‘cause I wanted to ask you to, like, stop bugging them about Stark Industries.”

MJ rolled her eyes. “ _Someone_ has to ask the uncomfortable questions.” She flexed her wrist, thoughtfully, and flopped onto Penny’s bed. “Nice room.”

Penny nodded. _She’s on my bed_ , she thought helplessly. _What am I supposed to do?_

“Hey,” MJ said, still staring up at the ceiling. “Do you think there’s something off about Hailey Osborn’s clique?”

“Uh.”

“I’m just wondering.” MJ sat up, crossing her legs, and patted the bed. Gingerly, Penny crossed the floor and sat down next to her, watching as she counted them off on her fingers. “Hailey Osborn, Edie Brock, Sandy Baker - they’re obviously sandbagging during PE. Like, they can definitely run _way_ faster than they’re letting on.” She elaborated on a few situations during which she’d seen them doing just that, and continued. “And Olivia Octavius - she’s got _something_ on the back of her neck, but she always has it covered up by her hair and her clothes. It’s bumpy. That’s all I’ve been able to see.”

Penny blinked, taken aback. “You’re very observant.”

“I am.” MJ smiled a little, faintly pleased with herself, and reddened when she saw that Penny was watching her. As she reddened, Penny reddened too, and the two of them stared at each other, caught in a never-ending spiral of awkwardness.

And then May knocked on the door.

\-----

“Would you like to, um -”

Olivia looked up from her phone and glared at the attendant so fiercely that she took a few steps back. “ _No._ ”

“Oh, come _on_ , Liv,” Liz whined. “It’s fun! Seriously, you don’t even have to switch off your phone or anything.” A nail technician was already hard at work on her feet, and as she spread her hands entreatingly, Olivia gritted her teeth and remained where she was. She didn’t like to remove her shoes when she was in public. “You’ve done this before, anyway.”

“I did this with _you_ ,” Olivia hissed. “Do you think I’d consent to a pedicure if Sandy and Hailey were in attendance?”

“Max won’t laugh,” Liz whispered. “You know that, right?”

Grudgingly, Olivia consented to the pedicure, and as the nail technician massaged and moisturized her feet into submission, she found herself sinking back into her chair nervelessly. _Okay,_ she thought, a little grumpily. _It’s not so bad._

“Oh, shit, I forgot!” Hurriedly, Liz removed her phone from her pocket and posed. “Max, Liv, come _on_.” As Max posed obligingly, sticking her tongue out and making an obscene gesture, Olivia covered her face with her phone. It was over in seconds, and when Olivia checked her Instagram, Liz had already uploaded the photo.

“You’re going to need me to activate the facial recognition software, right?” Max drawled.

“Yeah,” Liz said, distractedly, still tapping at her phone. “Like, me and Liv have tested it out on around a hundred students, and it works, so. Yeah. We can use it for Warehouse Six.” She looked up, puffing out her cheeks. “Don’t we… we can use it for the other warehouse, right?”

“My existing security measures are sufficient,” Olivia objected, stiffly, and folded her arms.

“Yeah, but a little bit more extra security wouldn’t hurt.”

They fell silent, and Olivia realized - abruptly - that none of them knew what to talk about. _This wouldn’t be so difficult if Sandy was here_ , she thought. _Sandy doesn’t know when to shut up._ If it was just her and Liz, it’d be easier, too, because when Max was around, Olivia found that she had to lower her register _tremendously_. Honestly, sometimes it was like speaking to a toddler.

“So,” Max said, airily, “how about the weather?”

\-----

When Penny got home from sending MJ back, Ben and May were waiting for her on the couch. Penny regarded them warily as she shut the door behind her, but none of them seemed particularly angry. Nevertheless, when she sat down opposite them, it was with a distinct feeling of apprehension.

“Is there something you want to tell us, Penny?” May began.

 _I can walk on walls_ , Penny thought. _I can move way, way faster than anyone else I know. I literally lifted a car above my head once, back in LA, before we moved here. I’m trying to design a chemical compound that’s roughly as strong and light as spider-silk._

“Uh, no.”

Ben sighed. “Penny,” he said, gently. “We just want you to know that regardless of who _you_ love, _we’ll_ still love you nonetheless. We won’t disown you. We won’t kick you out. We won’t shout at you, or ignore you, or stop paying for your education. Nothing - absolutely _nothing_ \- will change.”

Oh.

_Oh._

“Um,” Penny said, throat dry, “I like MJ.”

After talking to Hailey and her clique, it felt easier, somehow, to tell the two people who’d raised her that she liked boys as well as girls, and as the words left her mouth, Penny felt as though a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

The living room was silent for a few beats.

“Well,” May said, briskly, “I’m glad that’s sorted. Between you and me, Penny, I was wondering when you’d tell us. There’s nothing wrong with that. Whatever you do, we’ll support you. You know what, right?”

Penny swallowed and nodded. Her throat was closing up.

Ben sighed and spread his arms, and the three of them hugged for the first time in what felt like years, even though it’d only been a month since she was grounded. “No more sulking,” he rumbled, voice deep and soothing, and Penny tightened her grip on him. “Now, if you want to start going out at night with this girl, at least do us the courtesy of informing us first, okay? Let us know when you’ll be back. We don’t set curfews, but just let us know when you’ll be coming home, and update us if that time changes.” He paused. “No hanky-panky, either.”

Penny nodded mutely.

Ben chuckled. “Go get ‘er, Pen.”

\-----

“How do you know it’ll work?”

Olivia shrugged. “We don’t. If it doesn’t, there’s always the manual override. Hailey will keep our bouncer around just in case it doesn’t.” There was a vaguely maniacal look in her eye. “It’ll work, though.”

Max didn’t really enjoy interacting with Olivia when she got like this. “Uh, okay.” Cracking her knuckles, she pressed her fingers against the recently-installed control panel and zapped it full of power. “It’s on.”

“ _Goodbye, Max_ ,” the door said, pleasantly, and hissed open.

“It’s alive,” Liz sang, under her breath, and Olivia sniggered as Max walked out obligingly, hands on her hips. There was a van loitering outside, and she stomped over, a forbidding look on her face, fingers humming with power. “Hey,” she shouted. “What are you here for?”

A man leaned out the window. “Delivery for, uh,” he checked his clipboard - “Ms Dillon?”

“That’s me.” Max folded her arms. “Just, like, dump them outside. We’ll bring them in.” The delivery man tried to finagle his way inside, but Max remained steadfast, and after he’d dropped off the alcohol, he beat a hasty retreat. Max supercharged his engine, just in case, and called Edie.

“ _Yeah?_ ”

“We got the alcohol. Hailey and Sandy are off with the cheerleading team.”

Edie sighed, but Max could tell that she was grateful for an excuse to get away from her father. “ _I’ll be there in ten minutes._ ”

“ _Welcome, Max,_ ” the door chimed, as pleasantly as before, and Max made her way back into the air-conditioned confines of Warehouse Six. They only used it once a month, but it still smelled really, really fresh. Part of that was because Olivia had installed a veritable army of cleaning robots, and another part of that was because there were around a hundred air fresheners in here, and _another_ part of that was because they cleaned it around twice a month.

“Say,” she began, “you _do_ realize that you just made Sandy obsolete, right? Her and her invites.”

Liz looked at Olivia. Olivia looked at Liz.

“Shit.”

“No, it’s fine,” Liz said, shaking her head. “We’ll just ask them to show their invites at the door.” She peeked over Max’s shoulder. “Don’t you have the alcohol?”

Max shrugged. “This was all I could bring in.” Carefully, she toted them to the bar and dumped them behind the counter. “We’ve still got Craig Townsend to bartend, right?”

“Yeah. He said he’s been practicing.”

“You mean he’s been busy turning himself into a high-functioning alcoholic.”

“Hey, if he likes it…”

The door banged open, and Edie ambled in, carrying the remaining bottles of alcohol on her shoulders. “You finally installed it,” she observed.

Olivia threw a napkin at her. “Show-off.”


End file.
